PASSING WISDOM
TEAM COLORADO: Steve Mercia, Randy and Ron Amys
AT THE NATIONAL SNOW SCULPTURE COMPETITION IN FRANKENMUTH, MICHIGAN - January 21 - 28, 2007
Warning: The artistic process can be a sketchy business. If you are one of those who would rather see the baby without the labor, skip to the bottom of the page after January 28.
THE MESSAGE: "Our feathered friend, the wise owl, is connected to the revelation of unseen truths. As humans we need to pass our life’s’ experiences to our children to ensure the vision of tomorrow."
IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS THE MODEL
Many of you remember the original "Passing Wisdom" last year. This is Steve's version of the piece.
MONDAY, JAN 22
TAKE THREE
Say what? Read on:
Randy Writes: "Hello Everyone,
We arrived here late on Sunday. The roads were awful, so Steve and I took our time and everything was fine. We did see several cars in the ditch or stuff like that. Yesterday was spent checking the place out and getting a plan for what we were going to do.
Well last night that all changed. This event has several things going on this week. One of which is the International Snow Sculpture competition. They asked us to move from the nationals to the internationals.
Not a big deal usually. The problem was that the international carves 2-10ft blocks instead of one. After much deliberation and planning last night and this morning we decided to go for it. Now we are carving "Passing Wisdom III." The owls are more spread apart and now we have added a book in back to help tie it altogether and use up some more of the blocks."
TUESDAY, JAN 23
THE WORK SITE
"We were also a day behind because they allow an extra day for this event. We attacked the blocks today and were able to cut much of the unneeded parts away. Our handy dandy chain saw came in handy for that. Tonight we are taking it easy."
WEDNESDAY, JAN 24
CHIPPING AWAY - Morning
"We continued to locate the figures and chip the unwanted snow away today. Steve has been safe and has not even cut his clothing. Ron is enjoying the interaction with the spectators while cutting away on the book."
NOON
"As you can see in the photos, morning, noon and night, the owls started to show up around lunch time. Oliver (the graduating pupil) and The Professor seem to be shaping up well. There are many holes to fill so the "slush master" has been busy curing the cancer in the block. The gap between the two blocks has disappeared and the book of wisdom is starting to take shape."
NIGHT
"This event is expected to draw more than 100,000 by Saturday. This town takes their events seriously. There is something everyone will enjoy. Snow sculpting events for kids, high schoolers and even a National Collegiate snow sculpting competition. Tomorrow the Michigan state event starts so we have had many visits by the local snow sculptors. I will try to take photos of them so I can share them with all of you."
THURSDAY, JAN 25
"As you can see it was another productive day. Professor Hannigan and Oliver are getting more defined. The book of wisdom is causing a big challenge. It's not so easy to do a giant book and have all the planes level. We will have to see how that works out. The weather has been good and cold, but you can see by the pictures that the sun was out today. The front of the piece was slushy for a while this afternoon."
"Steve has not been too crazy with the tools and still has managed only a scratch on his chin the first day. Tomorrow the Professor will get his facelift."
"Ron is making sure everyone knows who we are and working mostly on the book. Randy was busy working with Oliver all afternoon."
"The public is really enjoying the piece and the message. As we were working today a couple things came to mind from the book of wisdom. "Believe in yourself" and "Respect your elders"."
SATURDAY, JAN 27
TAKE I
"Today was a very busy day. We started out at 8:30 and are still working."
"We will probably go late into the night."
"Things are shaping up and we all feel really good. The sore and tired muscles are starting to take their toll."
"Now it is time for the adrenaline to kick in. I look forward to sending the photos of the finished piece."
TAKE II
"Here it is...the finished piece. We ended up working through the night and finished before the deadline at 10am. We are all happy with our finished product. Now we will just have to wait and see what the judges think."
"All the prizes being awarded will be based on the artists choice. We judge every piece but our own. 20% creativity, 40% Message and 40% Technique."
"We are off to judge all the other pieces. Randy will also be an independent judge for the Michigan State Competition."
"I hope you all like it as much as we do."
Ron, Randy and Steve stand in front of their completed piece. Click on the photo to view the full-sized file.
AND THE WINNERS ARE:
"And now the moment you have all been waiting for. We judged all other pieces but our own based on 20% Creativity, 40% Message, and 40% Technique.
