Endtimes for the Beachwork and Some January Studies

If you were ever in doubt about the power of the lake, here is a reminder of what it is capable of. The photo below was taken in July when this year's work was getting close to done and the following three photos are what is left as of the weekend. And after the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday blow out of the north I doubt there is any trace of the work left...period.

Take that puny human!

And now for some little paintings to make me feel like I have something to show for my efforts.

Fish-Sticks

Went down to the beach last weekend when all of the destruction was occuring and in the calm before the storm I had some time to make a few pieces. These were almost immediately obliterated, but the seed of the idea was worth recording I thought. I had hoped to expand on the stick piece, but the weather had something to say about that. While I was putting finishing touches on it for the day I saw what I thought was a thick short stick that I was going to use but when I went closer to pick it up I saw that in fact it was a frozen 20" fish. It was a beauty. Little or no decomposition or gull ravagement, but there were some stones frozen to it...camouflage of sorts. There were some very nice colors as well. Below is a photo of that fine fellow on a slab of stone. This was not a naturally ocurring phenomenon, by the way. Unfortunately, for some reason, the blog will not allow me to put horizontally formatted pictures on it today, so to get the full effect you have to turn your head sideways

The close up of the head gives you a sense of the fish's personality. I imagine him a splendid fellow and mourn his demise. In this picture I placed a piece of driftwood alongside because it had a fish-like quality and there was a small stone frozen to the stick as if it were an eye.

In this picture you can see a full body double portrait, and the remarkable resemblance. Even the lengths of the rtwo are near identical and notice as well the fin shaped protuberances on the dorsal and ventral parts of the stick...uncanny!

In this final shot I have set up a triple portrait of the remarkable similar fish-stick duo. This time with an additional element...a large slab of stone. Which looks almost identical to the other two objects except for its color, shape , surface texture and general demeanor. Nature! What a quirky thing it is. This photo is particularly more enjoyable in a horizontal format.

The Great Devouring Maw of Winter

The new year came in on a mild note, but soon turned to its usual tricks. North winds came sweeping down the lake and it didn't take long before it had eaten the beach. I went down today to see what the night-long howling havoc wreaked. And I gotta say...it was impressive. With the beach gone for the most part the surf spent the night pounding my latest retaining wall to pieces and then for sport it began to chew into the sculpture. It took down both ends of the sculpture and it is only a matter of time before it finishes the job as there is nothing between it and a hungry surf.

So the efforts of 2011 are now a thing of the past. I hesitate to predict what if anything will be left when this current storm blows itself out, but it will be at best, an impressive pile of rubble. Such is life on the littoral.

It is not just my sculpture that is getting a face lift. Our whole stretch of beach is in for some serious reconfiguring this winter as the lake levels are really high, because of all of the rain. You add the fact that the lake is not likely to freeze any time soon, so any big winter storm in the next month is likely to pack a destructive punch.

The following two pictures show what the state of things was before this storm decided to erase some of the previous destruction. These waves toss 100lb. stones around like leaves on the wind. And when it is over it's a sorry sight to see. The whole stretch of wall seen below and the ground it sat on is now a thing of the past. But there is always a light...