Environmental Art and Dry Stone Workshop in Newfoundland

Past workshops have sketched a wave on the footprint of a derelict old field wall by establishing a guide frame with rope and artist easels, and bringing stones to points just under the line. Another group hiked to a remote beach and made a circle of stones on the crest of the high-water mark. It was only a visible as a piece of environmental art from the air. The English Harbour village and coastal cliffs along the famous Skerwink Trail were also viewable from Dave Paddon’s float plane.

WorkshopDan SnowAugust 25, 2012canada, ehac 2012, english harbour arts centre, newfoundland, workshop

Newfoundland 2-Day Dry Stone Walling Workshop

Each morning a pair of loons fly from the high forest pond behind the house to the wide ocean bay at the bottom of the road. In the evening they make a return flight. They punctuate their daily routines with an intermittent call and response, stuttering laughs that draws me out onto the deck to watch them wing past. This is high entertainment in the TV and internet-free environment I’ve been living in the past two weeks. The radio here is powered by a hand crank. After five minutes of broadcast the signal cuts out and I have to decide if the listening is worth the effort to recharge the battery.

Newfoundland 5-Day Dry Stone Walling Workshop

We must have done something right in a former life to get so lucky with the week’s weather during the recently completed English Harbour Arts Centre (EHAC) dry stone workshop. Seven participants from two provinces and three states worked under nearly rain-free skies for five days designing and building long-lasting walls and ephemeral art. Some of us even took a dip in the bay; a rare occurrence in Newfoundland waters.

Dry Stone, WorkshopDan SnowAugust 8, 2012dry stone, dry stone wall workshop, ehac, ehac 2012, featured, newfoundland

Summer Dry Stone Walling Workshops in Newfoundland

A collaborative design process culminating in the hands-on creation of a dry stone structure. Instruction in design will include site assessment, 3-D modeling and guide frame set up. Instruction in building with loose stone will include identifying each stone’s best use, applying the four basic principles for strong construction, and practicing safe methods for shifting and lifting stone. One day of the workshop will be devoted to working in nature to create a temporary environmental art piece.

English Harbour Arts Centre Workshops and Stone Maze

The dates have been set for the two English Harbour Arts Centre workshops I will be instructing this coming summer. Five-day and two-day long courses, July 29 - August 2 and August 4 -5, will focus on constructing new dry stone walls on the grounds of the art centre. The finished works will represent pieces of a grand puzzle that EHAC hopes to realize in the near future. The dream is to build a dry stone maze on the majestic headlands of Trinity Bay.