I've been away the last few days working on a secret ice sculpture project for a TV series and so missed all the changes coming to Steemit inc. Now I'm trying to catch up on all the news and OH My! it is all very interesting. I really seems that Mr. Sun should have followed one of the oldest tenets of investing. 'Do your own research' It is very apparent he doesn't know what he has bought from the language he uses and his proclamations of what will happen next. I wish him luck of course, if he has good intentions and I would also like to say I am sorry to see Ned leave but, I'm not, so I won't.

Hold on a second, I don't normally write about Steem stuff. I probably should if I want more votes but I am here to document my work as a sculptor and come hell or high water I'll continue my mission no matter who is trying to steer the boat.

When Irish eyes are smiling

Off the cost of Dublin is a small little island called Irelands Eye. I grew up with a great view of it from my living-room window and although it is only a couple of miles away I have never set foot there. Isn't it strange that sometimes the closest places are the ones you never go to. I had wanted to row a boat over one day but I had heard that the currents can be very dangerous and that the rocky shore can be treacherous.

The boys are back in town

It was nice to be asked by Fingal County council to create a small exhibition of sand sculpture on Portmarmock beach to inspire people to visit the wonderful asset that is just outside the city and has great views of 'Irelands eye' and 'Howth' a headland north of Dublin bay.

There would be three sculptures made by Niall and Alan Magee and yours truly and the theme was to make something inspired by the surroundings.

The sand on this beach while nice, would be very restrictive in what we could make and how long the sculptures would last so we told the council we would bring our own sand to the beach and build on a high grass bank to avoid the tildes. This would give them a week or two of time to have the sculptures on display.

I can't speak much on Niall's or Alan's sculptures and what inspired them but Niall made an ice cream with its cone melting, I liked the idea and his usual meticulous carving really brought it to life. Alan's was a large super sized shell reaching for the sky. It was actually a great decision as it made the sculptures more visible from the roadway and got people to stop and come on down.

The island

Mine started life as a realistic eye with it's pupil cut through to reveal the island in the background. As I carved I started to not like it too much because it was all very obvious and although it was looking nice it was missing something artistically.

I had most of it roughed out and was making the lower eyelid. Luckily I stepped away for a moment to talk to someone and what seemed like a pretty safe undercut of an eyebrow gave way and a couple of hundred kilos of sand crashed down to where I was working moments before. It would more than likely have killed me because the sand was well compacted and the brow broke away in big lumps, like rubble. You really never know with sand and it is moments like this that remind me to be more careful and always look for possible danger.

What I was left with was the eye ball and the beginning of the bridge of the nose. In situations like this you have only one choice and that is to think creatively and see what you can do with what you have left.

In this case and with hindsight I see it as serendipity. It forced me out of a rut and pushed me to think outside the box. I was so much happier with what I came up with. More abstract and more thought provoking.

I resolved the eye and used all the rest of the compacted sand to created wave like forms crashing up against it. Around it was the rubble that nearly killed me like the rocks around the island. I also used some of the sand from the beach to create a two tone effect on the eye itself plastering it on like well, plaster.

It is great when this sort of thing happens, when out of disaster the sculpture leads you in a new direction. Maybe Justin Sun will help lead Steem in a new, better direction, only time will tell.

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Ps

Thanks for reading. I use Steem 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 Steem blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.

The Flock - sand sculpture

All work and no play - ice sculpture

Tectonic plates - sand sculpture

I hope you'll join me again soon
@ammonite
[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 53.432633 lat -6.124203 long Ireland's Eye - sand sculpture 2007 d3scr)