November weather was spectacularly conducive to doing beachworks, but at the same time what it gave with one hand it took with the other. Every weekend that I went down the conditions were great and the materials supplied by the lake were varied and abundant. The end result was that I was able to play around with lots of interesting ideas.
The problem was that although each weekend I could make something different, the lifespan of these works was often as short as a day or two. Each subsequent weekend when I returned, the previous work was washed away so I couldn't get any continuity in a project. I'm not going to complain, as never was the lake niggardly in any way shape or form, but the chance to build or spin off any previous project was frustrated by the "tide's" regular erasure of each work.
I liked working with the small boxes of colored stones of which that weekend there was an abundance. All kinds of beautiful stones/cobbles had washed up in a huge skirt along the beachfront. Colors in many variations. In the time I had, I managed to cage four different species and would have loved to continue, but the next week the cobbles were gone, along with the artwork, replaced by the grey stone discs, which led to some flower/lotus/artichoke shapes.
Along with the discs a nice carpet of sand was laid down, which is essential for embedding the discs and holding them in place. See how cooperative the lake can be when it wants to be? In exchange it removed the great raft of sticks that had washed up earlier, which I had my eyes on for the next project.
In a momnent of whimsey, the lake coughed up a yellow pumpkin as well which was bobbing and rolling down the surfline. It was just begging to be a part of something different and dryer. So I gave it a new home, which I thought worked out nicely.
I'll be curious to see if it is still there this weekend. It looked very comfortable . So conditions permitting I'll be down this weekend to see what this week's west winds have made available on the beach to work with.
The problem was that although each weekend I could make something different, the lifespan of these works was often as short as a day or two. Each subsequent weekend when I returned, the previous work was washed away so I couldn't get any continuity in a project. I'm not going to complain, as never was the lake niggardly in any way shape or form, but the chance to build or spin off any previous project was frustrated by the "tide's" regular erasure of each work.
I liked working with the small boxes of colored stones of which that weekend there was an abundance. All kinds of beautiful stones/cobbles had washed up in a huge skirt along the beachfront. Colors in many variations. In the time I had, I managed to cage four different species and would have loved to continue, but the next week the cobbles were gone, along with the artwork, replaced by the grey stone discs, which led to some flower/lotus/artichoke shapes.
Along with the discs a nice carpet of sand was laid down, which is essential for embedding the discs and holding them in place. See how cooperative the lake can be when it wants to be? In exchange it removed the great raft of sticks that had washed up earlier, which I had my eyes on for the next project.
In a momnent of whimsey, the lake coughed up a yellow pumpkin as well which was bobbing and rolling down the surfline. It was just begging to be a part of something different and dryer. So I gave it a new home, which I thought worked out nicely.
I'll be curious to see if it is still there this weekend. It looked very comfortable . So conditions permitting I'll be down this weekend to see what this week's west winds have made available on the beach to work with.
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