PORT ANGELES — A mountain in miniature, a hunk of 1,600 pounds of raw jade polished here and there to bring out varied hues of green, is capped by flowing copper clouds in a new art installation, “Storm King” erected at Camaraderie Cellars on Friday.
It’s destined to be a fountain that illustrates the movement of both air and water, with the copper clouds turning as the water cascades from them.
“It turns with the wind and it rains water,” explained Port Townsend artist Walter Massey, who constructed the copper clouds.
“It’s a kinetic sculpture,” said Don Corson, winemaker and winery owner with his wife Vicki Corson.
The fountain, which was not yet operational Friday, in the garden at Camaraderie Cellars at 334 Benson Road near Port Angeles, mirrors the mountain view of Klahhane Peak, Corson pointed out.
But it’s named for Mount Storm King in Olympic National Park — as well as for a blend of Bordeaux variants that Corson makes.
Corson, a sculptor student of Port Angeles artist Maureen Wall, brought the jade, valued at more than $5,000, from British Columbia, and polished parts of it with diamond abrasives.
“Jade is not only incredibly hard. It’s tough,” said Corson, a who admits a particular fondness for stone, saying that before he and his wife took over the winery in 1992, he had earned a doctorate in geography, and is “an earth kind of guy.”
