Letting go -sand sculpture

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If you have ever been involved in a breakup then this one is for you. I have had a few loves turn sour in my day and to be honest, with time the scars healed and I realised that it was probably for the best that it ended. I say this of course because I have a loving wife and wonderful son and I don't know what is happening on the other side of the sliding doors.

As the guy with one eye said 'Hindsight is 20/20' but at those moments, when everything was going pear-shaped it felt like my heart and as a matter of fact all of my innards were about to explode.

The grey area

At the end of a relationship, there is a time when you just can't fathom it is over. A time when things seem unbelievable that this thing is coming to an end. You were so intertwined with this person and you can't understand an alternative world without them in it. It feels like a grey area. Maybe, this is a rocky patch, a test that you have to pass to continue being together. Maybe you can change, maybe they can change! maybe you can change together. Every word and look become so important, so full of meaning. Inevitably, this time also comes to an end and the two of you pick up your pieces and move on.

Letting go

This was what I was trying to explore in this piece I made for the 2014 Dublin Castle sand sculpture exhibition that we organised. We were able to make three sculptures that year and gave ourselves the theme of Black, white and grey. I pulled Grey from a hat and so had a ponder on what that word meant to me.

I have made a few sculptures about love. I find it interesting that nearly every pop song is about it, in all its permutations and yet it doesn't have its own sub-genre in sand sculpture, until now. You're Welcome!

This was a moment to move that story on a bit and do another piece in the series.



My idea was to have two figures reluctantly being blown apart as they try and reach back for each other and hold everything together.

Their bodies are contorted into the shape of a breaking heart like they were inside this protective shell and hatching in the most unforgiving dramatic way.



I liked how the breaking sections of heart looked. Some of them nearly appeared to be floating and giving each of them a direction of cut on their edge added to their sense of direction.



I also liked how the girl worked out. I suppose that because I am a red-blooded male I enjoy carving the female form. As you can probably tell I find it quite challenging but I do see improvement over time and I really enjoy the practice.



I was a little less happy with the man. I did want him to be a bit more contorted but I think I pushed it too far and had to deal with Newton and his damn gravity as it led to some dangerous undercut and overhangs.



He looked okay from some angles but in another case of hindsight, I should have made him in a similar pose to the girl. I believe it would have lead to a better composition.



Their hands reached back to each other and the love they had lost. It reminded me a bit of that 'Birth of Adam' painting by Michel Angelo which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling.

He probably did it better but it took him and a team of assistants over four years. I had a week.





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. Below you will find some of my recent posts.

A portrait of an unknown monk - sand sculpture

Not True Wealth - sand sculpture

Scorpio - sand sculpture

I hope you'll join me again soon
@ammonite

If you would like to support me

Bitcoin: bc1qp4lfg0ttz66nesgff8fd5unglg9y0l2jy53j36
Ethereum: 0x6abaE039b9BDFB67495A0588cb90F9EAF5f7556c
Eos: ammonitearts



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I've got to see one of the up close one day.


Posted via proofofbrain.io

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I am really looking forward to getting back to it myself. Thanks
!ENGAGE15

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Couple weeks back I was carving out a face into the beach. Went in to grab another beer, planning to expand on my creation. Nicely sat back down. A woman walking a dog comes along. Dog destroys everything and doesn't even say sorry.

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I have the sneaking suspicion that dogs sense what you don't want them to do and then do that.

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Hi. Dogs can be the worst art critics. I have had several run-ins with them and cats, Even a fox has criticised one of my sculptures. I had an owner once let his dog come right over to my sculpture and piss on it. He stood there watching like it was great fun. I was very angry but not with the dog in this case.
For me, working with the elements, whatever they may be can add to the adventure.
I Would love to see some of your sand creations sometime.
Carving with a beer can be great fun although carving while stoned is not advised.

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I had a strong feeling bringing up pets would lead to hearing a few stories. I can picture it. I'd probably lose my mind and get arrested.

Technically dude, I'm just a grown ass man playing in the sand. What I do isn't anything extraordinary. I'd just describe it as a 3D painting on the ground, that I carved and sculpted. One thing unique about the lake I frequent is purple sand. There's probably about five solid colors I can gather from the space around me. So I just piss around. I did finally buy a decent camera awhile back. It's still in the box.

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Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1258.

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Thank you very much for including my post.

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This is stunning. It literally took my breathe away. This is an incredible sculpture @ammonite, so well done. The details you capture always amaze me, such as the anatomy on the figures, the cloth that’s like cloth. At the same time, the whole piece is almost like a stone carving, if you don’t mind my saying that. It would be incredible in stone as well. I’m a little biased towards stone, so there is that.

Something I like very much about the sculptures you do, whether it’s sand, ice, or snow, is the “temporary nature” of the medium. That appeals to me and resonates with me on a personal level. Even stone is temporary, it just takes a long time to occur naturally. With the mediums you work in, this temporary nature is highlighted.

I see what you say about the male figure, your points. Perhaps if you’d made both figures too similar that would not have appeal either? I rather like it the way the male figure is positioned, it creates an interesting emotional quality that is both similar and yet more intense than the female figure’s.

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Thank you for your wonderful comment. Nothing last forever and there is something very freeing about being in control of when the sculptures end date is. It turns the piece into a happening or performance piece.
Compacted sand is actually like a soft sandstone. I have worked with limestone in the past but I believe I like to work faster and bigger than it would allow and sand is a perfect candidate. Of course, the temporary nature can be looked on as a compromise but if all my sculptures still existed it would take a whole museum to house them. (Not that I think they would be museum-worthy!)
My blog here on Hive is the nearest I will get to preserve them and I am happy for that and maybe even the NFT route could be something I would look into more as a way of giving them a new life.
In more hindsight about the male figure it may have led to better photography but for me the sculpture still the most important and I like to break the
symmetry.
Thanks again @nineclaws
!ENGAGE20

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You're always welcome @ammonite. I enjoy seeing your work very much. You're right, compacted sand is very much like sandstone. I'm reminded of south eastern Canada, where there is this red sandstone that is so soft, rubbing it gently will cause the sand to loosen and come off.

Limestone wouldn't allow for what you want to do and would take many months to produce the size you work in. I've carved limestone, but only about 1 1/2 feet by 1 foot and a bit larger.

Temporary speaks to the reality of this world, so your sculptures make a profound comment on that. I'm very fond of asymmetry, makes for a much more interesting and dynamic work.

I encourage you to continue with NFT's to build on what you're doing. It's a great idea.

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Thaks your upvoted!! Have a nice day.

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