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About the Instructors

 

 Rollie Grandbois – Founder

Rollie is a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe from Belcourt, North Dakota. He has been working as a stone sculptor for over 26 years. His teachers were all renowned stone sculptors who guided him through the many phases of creating a piece of art in stone. Rollie graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1983 where he also served as student body president that year. Over the years, Rollie has had over 200 students and many have gone on to become full-time professional sculptors. Rollie’s work has been seen in galleries and exhibitions throughout the United States, Japan, Europe, and Canada. Rollie’s sculptures are also included in many corporate, private and tribal collections. His largest stone sculpture to date weighs over 23 tons.

 

 

Jon DeCelles

 

Jon has been an instructor over many years at this workshop.  He has been very popular with beginners as well as seasoned sculptors. He has been working as a stone sculptor for over 25 years, and won numerous awards throughout the West.  He is sought after by many institutions and private collectors because of his ability to instill lightness and movement to the stone.   

 

 

Edward Flemming

 

 “Ted” Fleming grew up in Washington, DC, and studied sculpture in Los Angeles before completing a degree in architecture at Tulane U. in New Orleans. Specializing in residences, he believed houses to be “sculptures that people live in.” Returning to sculpture full-time, Ted studied marble carving in Pietrasanta, Italy, and apprenticed with Doug Hyde in Santa Fe. In 1997, Ted and his family moved to Galisteo, New Mexico. Ted focuses on the human figure and says, “Underlying all of my work is my need to tell the stories of creation and life through the human form.” Ted finds stone a compelling medium. “I'm enchanted by the inherent surprises I find when carving marble-color, light, crystal structure, and veining. I appreciate the challenge in the making of stone sculpture, a process of removal and discovery with no turning back.”

 

 Cliff Fragua

Jemez Pueblo sculptor, Cliff Fragua has learned the secret of the stone through his cultural and ancestral teachings. Based in Native American themes, his work shows a pride for his culture and a deep understanding of the inherent spirituality of the stone. He feels that the honesty and purity of this most basic material permits him to express himself from the heart and to express the spirit that Native people respect and revere as embodied in the stone. . His most recent commission, a larger than life sized depiction of Pope’ – a Tewa Indian leader – represents the State of New Mexico in the National Statuary Hall  at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.  Other works are installed in public locations and in leading museums and in private collections.

Clifford had training in Pietrasanta, Italy, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the Institute of American Indian Art. He was instrumental in the creation of the SWSCA Carving Workshop.

 Kat Watson

 Kat is a life long artist who has been carving stone for over 7 years. As an  Instructor at the workshop for the last five years, she has demonstrated patience and skill in helping novice carvers grow beyond their initial trepidation to achieve confidence in their skills. Kat exhibits her work in the Taos, NM area. She created a large memorial for the town center of Questa, NM.