Two away fixtures that we particularly enjoyed during last year’s season were at the well-known North Wales seaside resort of Rhyl. The first visit was in August for a one day sand sculpture followed by a workshop on the beach the following day. The second visit in December was for a live ice carve event.
All in a day’s work …the magnificent Rhyl Castle.
It’s strange what you remember from SIYE jobs, for although both occasions resulted in very satisfactory outcomes: on the first a much admired magnificent sandcastle and on the second a magical ice snowman , what lingers most in my mind are two very memorable smiles.
An ice sculpture can become truly magical at night.
The first smile was sported on Jamie’s rain drenched and wind whipped face, on Rhyl beach, whilst waiting for the final afternoons sand sculpture workshops to begin. The morning had been very well attended and met with much commendable enthusiasm despite the cold, but high winds and the subsequent horizontal rain had driven everyone off the beach…except of course those of us who had to remain at their posts just in case a diehard sand castle enthusiast turned up. The reason for Jamie’s smile? We were both indeed amused by our predicament; I personally understood the phrase soaked to the skin, from my thighs down anyway as I hadn’t brought my waterproof pants. Contemplating how long it would be before my boots were completely full of water , I’d just quoted to Jamie the phrase ‘It’s only work if you want to be somewhere else.’ and then looked around at the dramatic seascape and realized that despite the rain trickling into my boots, I really didn’t want to be anywhere else! I expressed my feelings to Jamie and this is what had prompted his smile.
The calm before the storm…the crowd is enthralled at the Rhyl sand sculpture workshop,
The second memorable smile occurred after we were wrapping up after completing the live ice carved snowman. Various people were having their pictures taken next to the sculpture which in itself is very satisfying, but the outstanding moment for me was the beaming smile sported by a little girl as her father held her up next to the snowman. Now there’s job satisfaction! Knowing that I’d played a part in creating such a wonderful moment and indeed helped to create a special memory was proof indeed of a job well done. People often say what an amazing job we have, travelling the country and making wonderful artwork, well that smile brought home just how ‘amazing’ the job can be.
The chainsaw is en excellent tool for adding detail as well as blocking out during an ice carve.
Thanks to the people of Rhyl for a great reception on both of our visits. A thank you also to Anwyl Construction for donating the sand and to Guto LLoyd-Davies for taking some wonderful photographs which appear on this blog. Finally a big thank you to Lisa, from the BRAND project, for managing us so well over the two events.
Andy Moss
