For many years when I was starting out in sand sculpture people were always asking me was I going to Harrison. This was a long running competition called the World Championship and took place for many years in Harrison hot springs, Canada.. For me I thought why bother. I didn't like competitions and it was a long journey to just work my ass off for the chance of winning a accolade which wasn't important to me. I would have to pay for some of the flight and accommodation and from what I had seen in photographs of previous years the work was not art but Disney styled craft. The same team from the States seemed to win every year with a very similar composition. They were called Sandscapes and had been working commercially with sand since the 1970s. They were very good but not my cup of tea when it came to sculpture.
It was really the furthest thing from my mind to go and try to be a world champion. But, in 2004 I was asked to join an all European team and go and show them what we were doing with sand on our side of the pond. My arm was twisted and off I went.
Doubling up
The organisers, who agreed to pay some of our airfare asked could we compete in two competitions ; A doubles and a team event. Fair enough we said, we would do a little sculpture to get warmed up and see whats what. Niall Magee and myself would double up.
A complete ripoff
Years before I had seen this cartoon in a Playboy magazine hidden under my brothers bed. (Don't worry I was only reading it for the articles.... the articles about women showing their dislike for clothes.)
In this cartoon there as a lady looking at her beautiful body in a mirror but behind her we could see clothes pegs holding back layers of fat.
I don't know why this image stuck with me, maybe it was the fact that we are all covering up the negative things about ourselves and trying to project an image to the world of how we want to be. Anyway I made it as a suggestion of a sculpture and Niall agreed.
The fastest sand sculptors in the west
I found the whole thing of working in Harrison quite funny. They would give a countdown of when to start and when to stop working with a big fog horn sounding to mark the moment. If you touched the sand sculpture when outside those times immediate death by disqualification .It was like some sort of race. All the rules were very against trying to be creative. It was mentioned negatively once or twice about us making nudity but we really didn't care if we were disqualified or not.
I made the pegged woman while Niall made the mirror and a strange Devil peaking from behind it. I don't remember what it represented, you'll have to ask him.
Making the pegs was a challenge because having to support one with the next made them all quite chunky the same for the figure itself which was very vertical for beach sand. Around half way through large cracks appeared running through the pegs So I tried to be a bit safer not knowing if or when the pegs would fall.
I was able to finish up but you can see how I made it safer as I worked down. No cut-throughs and making it wider at the base. I was sure any second the pegs would collapse.
But, strangely it was the woman that fell away from the pegs. The morning of the judging we came to find that she was a pile of rubble on the ground. It was really odd, I was sure she was safe. Of course, with a destroyed sculpture we weren't judged but I actually preferred the sculpture better this way. It was like she had cracked rather than the mirror.
Anyways on to the second sculpture where we were working with a team of 5.
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.
Duncannon miniature - sand sculpture
The Martyr - sand sculpture
Clash - short film
I hope you'll join me again soon
@ammonite