California Sculptors Symposium
Instructors for 2008:
T
Barny, Healdsburg, CA :
Stone Carving 4 sessions
T Barny will take you through rapid roughing out of stone blocks using
power tools with diamond blades, chainsaws and splitting techniques. He
will demonstrate pneumatic power carving and grinding. He will also show
how to achieve different finishes and textures and how to take a mold
from stone to use for casting bronzes.
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Nathen Blackwell, Ventura, CA:
Architectural Stone Carving 2 sessions
Nathen will demonstrate his master techniques in architectural details
in stone, the correct use of tools and sharpening of tools. Using corbels,
he will demonstrate decorative details in limestone. We are honored to
have Nathen on our program for the 3rd consecutive year.
JoAnne
Duby, Ventura, CA :
From Rough Out to Finish. 4 sessions
Joanne will start a sculpture, explaining how she begins, the tools needed
for roughing out, design approaches and how to quickly get to where you
want: all the way to finish, signed, and sealed. She will be carving all
day, so everyone will have access to her process of carving.
John
Fisher, Ft. Bragg, CA:
Stone Sculpting Workshop 4 sessions
Creating is a profoundly philosophical and spiritual act of faith. My
work is spontaneous and intuitive, but built upon years of observation
and the discipline of drawing. I have lived and worked for many years
in Europe, primarily in Italy, giving me a notable lean towards the classical.
However my approach is initially abstract. I begin without models or drawings,
creating movements and a rich surface texture, which stimulates ideas.
Once I see my vision, it is refined using a technique of carving only
the profile lines of my subject, until all points of view align and the
image is realized. Some of my works are public on-site carvings, which
are educational demonstrations of my creative process. By including the
public, new and socially significant sculptures are born. The impact of
witnessing the birthing of the sculpture extends out into the community,
uniting people in a common experience.
Francine Kirsch,
Santa Barbara, CA:
Burnishing and smoke firing workshop 3 sessions
Francine Kirsch will explore the ancestral method of making pinch pots
or small sculptures and the burnishing process with a polishing stone.
The pieces will be fired in organic material to create a black patina
in a smoke firing. Francine has been working with clay and teaching ceramics
for many years. She started carving stone in 2002 at the 1st Symposium.
She lives and works near Santa Barbara CA.
Alexandra
Morosco, Whidbey Island, WA:
Where Purpose and Practice Meet 4 sessions
The right tools and how to safely use them are only a splinter of our
craft; Alexandra offers four sessions during the symposium that will weave
elements of her "personal tools" as well as actual ones that
help to bring further meaning to her process and completed works. She
will focus on elements of figurative carving but will also address that
of abstract and symbolic styles.
Alex has a longstanding affiliation with tool companies, Trow and Holden
Co. and
A Cut Above Distributing Co. as a field representative that specializes
in the needs of stone carvers and is looking forward to assisting participants
in navigating through the labyrinth of tools. This year she will be in
our field through the whole event and will be available to assist individuals
one on one as well as in group discussions.
Evany
Zirul, Fresno CA:
Clay Modeling & Life Model 4 sessions
Evany has continued to keep involved in creating and showing her art over
the decades. She finds that, in addition to the drawing (which she continues
to do nearly everyday), she loves to work with clay because she finds
she is able to transcend to a place in her imagination where she does
not often go in her daily life. To transform the warm, fragile clay into
a firm and durable bronze gives her great pleasure, the same sort of pleasure
she receives when she is able to transform a damaged human face into something
more pleasing and functional. It is all about the delicate balance of
life- to turn soft clay into a permanent bronze that will last forever
is a very satisfying accomplishment for Evany. Each bronze is like the
miracle a doctor strives to reach each working day.