S
p 29 • FALL/WINTER 2010
Jock Hildebrand: Stan can you tell me a bit about Frieda Diesing, the woman the school was named after? Stan Bevan: She was Haida, born and raised in Terrace (British Columbia). She lived most of her life in Terrace and Prince Rupert and started carving in the mid sixties in ‘Ksan. She inspired a lot of artists like Dempsey Bob and Norman Tait, Bob Jackson, a lot of the leading (First Nations) artists. She went on to do a lot of teaching in the northern Nations.
J: Why is this school important for First Nations? Will it bring a sense of continuity to the cultural tradition? S: Yes, we provide formal training so we go through all the areas of fundamentals. (In the past) a lot of coast artists have learned here and there and wherever they could. There was no real
one place to learn. Here everything is all together. Here they have a full two years just learning the fundamentals. We really stress drawing and designing. Something as simple as an ovoid is drawn every day as a morning practice so we are getting them to learn the proper forms and proper shapes. If they learn (the forms and shapes) properly they will have a much easier time when they are on their own after they complete the two years.
J: This is using traditional form line? S: Yes. It also goes to the carving. The design leads into making their own tools so they know about the steel; they know how to bend it, how to temper it, and then that goes on into wood. The basic projects are a build up of skill, skill of use of tools, skill of use of wood, skill of technique. It all goes together to build up their
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44