Grownup Art Camp

This April I am a guest instructor at the California Sculptors* Symposium in Cambria, California. Campers get a chance to do figurative clay sculpting, rock carving (electric and by hand) and a weird third thing...

I'M THE THIRD THING! I'll the teaching inflatable art fundamentals. Learn a lil 3D design, sewing and problem solving. The materials are simple, things you may even have in your own home. The prize is giving yourself a week to make art, with no goal other than to immerse yourself and feel joy.

I attended this camp last year as a participant and spent the entire week in the paper mache classroom (that was the third thing last year) getting finicky with paper and making a bunch of friends. The people there were absolutely special, darling, friendly, odd and supportive. Some people did not do much art in their daily lives and wanted to do something different. Some were professionals, some were students. We were all there for the same thing.

The paper mache room in 2025, under the tutelage of Roberto Benavidez.

Lodging was cabins with bunkbeds, but everyone had their own bottom-level, so it wasnt' cramped. Each cabin is themed and named after a famous scientist or naturalist. I was in COUSTEAU.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/dc6841_3310180f8cb5447488dfb425d26cb07c/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

I tried out rock carving! That's a lil block of marble. You can buy rocks there!

The last day we'd finished our pieces and played hooky at San Simeon Beach. You've never had a slow walk down the beach until you've got 4 sculptors picking up every piece of driftwood and commenting on it. GLORIOUS!

Camper art show at the end of camp, looking at marble creations as the sun goes down. This is also where we can sit and have tea and chat the evening away. (Don't worry-- someone finished this before they came. Rock carving takes a LOOOOOONG time!)

So if you have the time/funds to give yourself a camp experience, I have nothing but great things to say about the California Sculptors Symposium at Camp Ocean Pines. Sleep summer-camp style, drift into breakfast in the ocean mist, do art as long as you feel like it, walk in the woods, drink tea or wine, play games at night with your new friends. Be a little solo if you want and stake out an adirondack and finish a few books. The schedule is totally up to you.

*I have never typed sculptor correctly on my first try and I never will.