A Beast of a New Kind

Yes, I had a vision of a Beast who lives by the side of a busy road, and sort of says "Hi."to those driving by.  This type of Beast would need to be large, and made to withstand the elements....kinda like made of concrete. 

So,  I have given myself the challenge of creating a 3 foot, concrete Beast. Have I ever worked with concrete before? No. Have I ever made a sculpture this large before? No. But why ever would that hinder me?!

I have enlisted the assistance of friend, artist and contractor, Mark Girard in this enterprise, and I do believe that I have a perfect front yard to place this Beast.

So, what is left to do? Start out with a solid block of Styrofoam and begin to carve.

The plan includes articulated arms, just like the smaller Beasts have.

The mess.

I must admit that this is the first time I've carved Styrofoam, and I must say that I don't like it. "Never again!" I think. In the sweltering 90 degree weather, I felt compelled to wear my respirator and bulky head phone / noise reducers because of the tiny bits and the squeaky, squeaky screeeching of the material. This caused dripping sweat and difficult breathing.

The bits get everywhere...

But we are getting closer!

And just about there, I think.

Mark and I had gotten together to plan where to go from this point on, but then!

And as fate would have it, I was shelving a book at the public library when I glanced up and saw, Making Concrete Garden Ornaments by Sherri Warner Hunter. She makes this process sound very do-able, so...we'll see, and I will keep you updated on how things go.