Judy P's Tickle Trunk

The final day. Thank heavens. My hands are sore, my back is stiff and I’m ready to move on. But that said, it was worth every second. My husband often says that the biggest compliment I ever allow myself is “I’m not dissatisfied.” Today I told Ivan, our teacher (I took to calling him sensei by the end of the day) that I was more than happy. I never really expected to make anything that was more than just representative of a mermaid. Whoohoo. Here’s the final piece. Some of the concrete is still damp so things might sag a little over the next few days but you’ll get the idea.

It’s hard to see the rock she is sitting on because it is the same colour as the plastic from all the run off and my seashells are a little on the large side. She has no name as yet and her hands are empty. I was initially thinking bird food but then I worried that she might end up covered in pigeon poop. It remains a work in progress.

Here are the pieces of the other participants. The lady who made the garden feature also made a big smiling toad and four little garden stools like tree-stumps but she left with them in a hurry this morning when the heavy snow started.

I hope you enjoyed my little journey in the land of concrete creations. Now I wonder what I can get up to next.

© Judy Parsons 2021

This was supposed to be the last day of the workshop but there is still much to do so several of us have chosen to have an extension. There’s no point in rushing through at this stage of the game. Progress has been made.

She’s becoming quite the lass.

© Judy Parsons 2021

Progress has been made but things are going to get ugly for a while.

I have an icky gooey mess right now but it will be set up and solid by tomorrow and then the real detailing can begin. No, don’t worry, that’s not the final size of her head! I’m suspecting she’ll be short and plump, a lot like someone I know. There’s also some seashells in the works.

© Judy Parsons 2021

Every winter Ivan Higgins of Cosby’s Garden Centre/Concrete Creations empties out a greenhouse and hosts a concrete sculpture workshop. This year the group was markedly reduced due to Covid restrictions and I was happy score a place.

The first day was spent cutting wire mesh pieces, shaping them, and binding them together with plastic zip ties to form a kind of skeleton.

By lunch-time I had just a torso. It’s fussy work and the wire needs to be trimmed as well as cut.

The challenge is not just getting the proportions correct but getting the wire cage just the right size so that it is not over-sized when the concrete is layered on.

By the end of the day I had a body with arms, tail and neck and a rock for her to sit on (not in picture).

It’s difficult to photograph the wire cage without a contrasting colour behind it but all should be more clear by the end of the day tomorrow. I went home and crashed and now my hands and forearms are aching just enough to remind me that they worked hard today. I’ll sleep well tonight.

© Judy Parsons 2021