I neglected to document this piece when I was doing my sculptures from 2008. I thought it was not worthy of a post but it has a story to tell as it was the first I did for this client, someone who I have great respect for and have a few other pieces I did for.
I still feel a bit strange posting it but every piece deserves a post and although the sculpture wasn't great I hope that the little story around it may make up for that fact.
It was a two-day carve including the preparation of the area and compaction of the sand. I have three other sculptures I made for this client. He is a radiologist who met me at our project in Dublin Castle. He was just a punter in the crowd, there to see the sculptures with his family. We got talking and he asked if I would be interested in creating a sculpture for his wife's birthday party at their house. He had small children at the time and said I could make something for them. They liked pirates so I created a Jack Sparrow homage. They are a lovely family and I worked for two days in the rain wheelbarrowing the sand into the back garden, compacting, and then carving under an umbrella. The party was quite fancy with a catering company and everything. I worked through the party even though Jim said I didn't need to and I should just enjoy myself as a guest. But covered in sand and rain like a wet dog I didn't feel like rubbing shoulders with suits and beautifully dressed ladies.
Finally when it was dark and I could do no more he gave me a big wad of cash and a bottle of champagne for my troubles. So began our friendship and he has had me back several times to create other pieces out of the same sand which I top up with more. The sculptures last about a year or until the dog scratches them to pieces.
Jim and his family have become good friends and we have even visited them at their holiday home for dinner. As I said he is the radiologist, luckily in the hospital where my wife is being treated and he will always make sure she gets the scans she needs when she needs them. It is great to have connections at times like this.
He is like a patron of the arts to me always thinking of how he can help and hopefully, we will do a big project together one day.
That's the background and here is a sculpture I made for him in 2008 when his children were still small. It is not high art but was a bit of a distraction at the party between rain showers.
The sand wasn't great because of its very rough grain. This made details difficult especially with the rain washing away all the clay which helps bond it together. It led to a very blotchy surface.
Ps
Thanks for reading. I use PeakD to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, amongst other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Hive Blockchain.
I hope you'll join me again soon
I am also starting to create NFTs of my sculptures and welcome you to my gallery where you can own a bit of ephemeral sculpture history.