My father passed away two years ago and not an hour goes by that I don't think of him and the knowledge and wisdom he has passed down to me. It's like in the back of my mind he is there guiding me in everything I make. He was a genius with a whole lifetime of making and to me he could do everything. He may not have been a sculptor or artist but when it came to technical knowledge he knew it all. He worked most of his life as a school maintenance man and in that time kept the whole building from falling down. He was an electrician, plumber, builder, carpenter, painter, inventor and everything else besides. On top of that he was also the best father I could have wished for.
As I now raise my own son I try to pass on all I was thought and all I learned along the way. He is only three but every time I take out the screw drivers to fix another broken toy the feeling of the three of us working together to fix it is something quite special. In some ways I feel I am just a conduit of wisdom adding my little bit into the mix.
From little acorns great oaks grow
I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like to plan a sculpture before time. So many variables are still up in the air that it is a pointless exercise. The sand can be very different than planned and my mental state could also shift before I put tool to sand. Also location can have a big bearing on the sculpture.
Fergus Mulvany and I were asked to make a sculpture over a few days for a daytime talkshow on RTE (Irelands national broadcaster). Each day the presenters would come out with TV crew and we would explain the stage we were at. Letting the viewers see the progress.
Seeds
When we had compacted the sand we thought about what we'd make and a Large oak tree near the pile gave us the inspiration. We wanted to fit it into our sculpture in some way. This got us thinking about trees and the way they pass on information to the next generation. Our muse for this sculpture was obviously nearing the end of its life but it's legacy would live on in all the little oaks it spawned. Each entrusted with the genetic code of how to be the best tree possible.
On a human level there is also this genetic code and of course the knowledge passed down through nurture. We played with these ideas and came up with the composition you see here.
Don't say it, just show it
I won't try to describe the piece in detail because that would be like making a poem about a dance. The sculpture itself can do it's own explaining. Hopefully from my intro you'll understand where our heads were at.
It was a fun project to do especially because of the small interviews each day where we tried to explain our process and to rub shoulders with all the celebrities of Irish television who came to chat with us. It's probably not everyday that they get to hang out with real stars.
The oak is gone now as is our sculpture but I'm sure the seeds and ideas live on to inform the future from the past.
Ps
Thanks for reading. I use Steem to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, among other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Steem blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.
Tranquil-sand-sculpture
Caged baby - ice sculpture
Market Analysis using digital elevation maps
I hope you'll join me again soon.
@ammonite