Ride of the Valkyries - sand sculpture

It had been many years since I had last set foot in Blockus, Denmark. The last time I had worked there I had carved one of my favourite sculptures on the beach which you can read about here. This time I was back to a new location, a little more inland and away from the wilds of the ocean.

It was a big wall of sand that I was to be working on it with around 8 other people. I am always impressed by this big wall and love to see it carved as one big sculpture all together as a team but, as has become the norm most people just want to draw a vertical line and carve what they want with as little communication with their fellow carvers as possible. They would measure out the wall and divide the meterage. Select their bit and say 'This is mine, you can do whatever you want with the rest, Nanananana!' or something to that effect. I really think it's a pity but I am tired of arguing so, I let it go.

Stuck in the middle with you

Being sandwiched between two carvers I was happy to hear that Helena Bogert to my left also wanted to make something about Valkyries and so at least here was an opportunity to try one more time. We agreed that at least our areas could be joined into one bigger composition. She would create them flying down and I would have them picking up fallen fighters and flying off again.

For those who don't know what a Valkyrie is, they were a group of women on horses that would sweep the battlefield and take the slain up and off to Valhalla. This is of course in Norse mythology which was the theme of the project.

It was lots of fun to work with her on the big lines and get an interesting direction of movement. Although our styles are quite different I think it came together quite well.

Breaking the ice

Helena is a Dutch carver that I have known for many years but we were never that close. Our characters are quite different and we had never worked together before but I think we had a quiet respect for each other, At least I hope we did. So, it was nice to get together and discover each others process and get to know each other a bit better. We really clicked although we are on different wavelengths in many ways. All in all, I think it was a great experience for us and we got a little closer.

Working on this scale allows you to be a bit rougher with the details as people generally just see the big image. When you got close it was quite loose but I liked the poses and the big picture. it flowed nicely from one side to the other across the 20 or so meters.

The figures were pretty much life-sized and there is not much more I can write about this piece really except it was a win for me and Helena.

I married a star

Here is another Viking fact for you just to finish off this post. If you are a watcher of the TV series Vikings you may not know this but it is actually filmed in Ireland and my very own Valkyrie missus @clodaghdowning appears as a midwife delivering the baby of King Ivar and Freydis. It's in S05E18 title 'Baldur. I haven't watched it myself except for her scene but I think it looks like a pretty good show.