99F-19 "Second Scoop"

After getting visitor responses on my new wildflower pages I realize they need to be rebuilt. Two hours of that is enough, and yesterday's sculpture just didn't come out well. Jim carried most of the sand. I still have some energy.

Build number:	99F-19 (lifetime start #175)
Title:	"Second Scoop"
Date:	November 5
Location:	Venice Breakwater, south side
Start:	1100; building time: 5 hours
Height:	3.4 feet
Base:	1.75 feet, cylindric
Photography:	one roll RA135-24 w/LX and 85mm; atmosphere w/RA and WR

1. Recycling I may have some energy but that doesn't mean I'm at full capability. I don't notice the stump of yesterday's sculpture until I nearly run over it. The tide didn't hit it as hard as expected, but this has an unexpected benefit. Its sand goes into the tub, buckets and on top of the small form so I can re-use it unfiltered. Anything to save Watts. I also forgot about the broken tamper. "I don't suppose you have some duct tape, adhesive tape, anything?" "I'll see what I can find." The lifeguard rummages around in his truck and the tower. "Can you use first-aid tape?" "You bet." I move the plug back into position and wrap the tamper's end. "Thank you very much." I'm back in business. The clean sand builds the first foot and a half in the form. Then it's back to enforced clamming. The day is sunnier but the surf is just as flat. The construction crew is going all out, removing the forms from concrete they poured yesterday. I stagger up the beach with the last load of sand as the big excavator takes a bite that would fill my form three times over. 2. St. Louis Reprised I don't know how good the arch-over-an-arch idea really is. So, I'll try it again, with some refinements. This time the intent is to make a continuous curve: the upper arch curves down and around, rising to go under and then twisting again to become the top. "This is really nice." "Thank you. It's a lot of fun." "You must live nearby." He has a fancy camera and is far too well dressed for the beach. "Yes. About a mile and a half north. Where are you from?" "St. Louis." "Well, it's appropriate you're here because one of St. Louis's monuments inspired my first efforts." "Which one?" "The Gateway Arch. That elegant catenary. I wanted to make one out of sand." "I see." As usual the design in execution develops complications. Some of them work but I lose the continuous curve that I'd wanted when the lower arch develops a backward kick. This helps another part of the design, however, providing contrast to another part of the sculpture. It does have great space. The long northern leg is the biggest unsupported element I've done in a long time. It has projections to the east as counterpoise because I've brought its base in to the east before swinging it westward to become the lower arch. 3. One for Larry On the south is a broad expanse of sand. When I'm tired I'm likely to do thing before thinking them through and here it produces a round entry. "Larry will like this." I smile and try to figure out how to fit it with the rest of the sculpture. Maybe an outline will help. I cut around the circle, defining an edge that parallels the opening, then drops straight down. This becomes too much like a wine glass. Well, we'll work it out later. 4. Turn the Gophers Loose The top half has big open spaces. Below that in various places are little pockets just right for holes. I need a trained burrowing animal but all I have is a tent stake for boring inward and a well-developed sense of where its end is. Drill a ten-inch hole in from each end and you get a twenty-inch tunnel which can then be widened, if you can get the waste sand out. One way to solve that problem is to cut a drain halfway and this sculpture provides just such an entry point. I bore in from there and loose sand runs out as soon as I breach the tunnel. More widening and carving fits the new spaces with the design. Around on the north is a narrow leg just inviting separation from the rest. A broad concave cut provides this. 5. Scratch that Itch Well, that's about it. The sculpture wants more work but I'm done and so is the day. This one is somewhat more satisfying than yesterday's. I used more of the pile's strength and the sculpture is more integrated. It's still not what I want, but I need to keep that desire under control. This could turn from work into fun and I don't want that. I clean it up and sign it. The itch is still there but I doubt I'll be able to sculpt tomorrow. It's hard to do anything when there's only guacamole inside one's head.

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