Carving - Day 2 (How did we do?)

This morning, we returned to the carving site and set to work on "Ol' Man River". I was glad I hadn't carved any more yesterday when the sun was hot, but began to wonder if we shouldn't have returned in the evening when things had cooled off, so that we'd have more time today to get the sculpture the way we'd like. Well, it was too late for that.

All the sculptors had to finish their carvings by 15:00 and that meant we had a lot to get done in what could be a short amount of time. However, the big question wasn't so much, "will we get it done it time?" as it was "will we get it done before it melts?" The weather forecast predicted that the temperature might climb to +4 or +9^oC.

"Starting on the detail."

"Michael W. working on the paddlewheeler steamboat."

As we carved, we were constantly asked questions by spectators and media alike. I was interviewed by the Edmonton Journal and photographers from both the Journal and the Sun took pictures. I'll check them both out tomorrow to see if we made the papers.

The carving was going well in the snow on the original block, but was rough on the sections that we formed using chopped-up snow from yesterday. As a result, and because we were now racing against time, the sculpture took on a rough appearance in those added sections.

"The face of Ol' Man River."

"The Michaels in front of Ol' Man River."

"'Ol' Man River' from the side. Look! There's a steamboat going up his beard!"

With fifteen minutes to go, we decided that we were as good as done. There were lots of little touches here and there that we would have liked to do but, by this point, they weren't going to make much difference.

"Good enough! We're done!"

While we waited for the judges to decide who the winner would be and for the tallying of the People's Choice ballots, we got to listen to the very awesome vocalizations of Tanya Tagak Gillis.

"It was so cute when her daughter sang her A-B-Cs."

The winners were announced and we came in Third Place. We got a fancy white ribbon, like the kind they give to show dogs or horses or antique cars. Classy! I'll post pictures of the other sculptures later.

The sky grew dark and the lights began to shine on the sculptures. It was very cool - the way that some of them were meant to be seen.

"Dusk falls on Ol' Man River."

"Ol' Man River in the red light of the night."

"The paddlewheeler and Ol' Man River."

"That Ol' Man River just keeps rollin' along..."