We've been busy the last ten days! We held the Spring Sign Magic Workshop starting Thursday, March 8th. It ran until late Sunday. Monday and Tuesday we worked on the house details and a myriad of other projects and got ready to host the next workshop. Wednesday and Thursday I spent helping a fellow sign maker learn the routing software. Thursday afternoon we kicked off the Sculpture Magic Workshop. Two folks who had promised to attend didn't show. One other guy got sick and one was forced to change his plans at the last minute. This left us with only four guests this go around.
We kicked things into gear Thursday as everyone was eager to learn and get their hands dirty. We had plenty of ground to cover and some very cool things to sculpt. One of the projects was a dinosaur head. Here's Chris' version as it came together. As evident in his sculpture, he is an accomplished cartoonist and illustrator. The purpose of his attending the workshop was to gather the tools and techniques needed to bring his two dimensional drawings and paintings to three dimensional life. I look forward to seeing some fun projects from his studio in the future.
Dustin had no experience sculpting previous to the workshop and in fact claimed to not be an artist. What he lacked in experience he made up with enthusiasm. His finished dino head was spectacular.
Our second project(s) was sample panels on which we did a variety of textures carved into wet fiberglass reinforced concrete. Everyone got right into the process and did extremely well.
Then it was on to the most difficult task - welding, wiring and carving a knarly tree trunk with fiberglass reinforced concrete. Once again everyone was up to the challenge.
From the time we started Thursday afternoon to Sunday evening we all put in more than 54 hours of work, discovery, tons of laughs and plenty of learning. We took our meals in the shop and spent every minute immersed in our creative endeavors. Best of all we became good friends. A good and worthwhile time was held by all.
Thanks to my family and staff who worked so hard to make it a success!
-grampa dan