New toy!

I picked up a Makita die grinder (GDO600) from AIH yesterday. This would be neat, but not too exciting, except that I also received two of the bits that I ordered, a Roscoe Bit, and a V-bit. A quick test proved that the roscoe bit (a thin, long bit) carves through ice like a warm knife through butter. It'll be used for details, and should be uber-handy with creating creatures.

The V-bit is a wide bit that will be heavily used with texturing and will likely be used for creating detail within the cholla.

Now, I'm just waiting for the super burr and burr bullet that I have on order. With those, there'll be Ice Mayhem.

Dreaming of tools

Last night, I broke down and ordered some ice-carving bits for the Die Grinder that I don't yet own. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I shouldn't have found a sponsor....
Meanwhile, were still collecting a pile of tools a saw here, grinder there, and a cool now melty device that Lars has created.

Designed to WIN

Here's the design sketch I submitted on our behalf. We're paid up, have turned in our bios (mostly) and this sketch. It's really going to happen now!

uh-oh

A couple days ago, I put chisel to ice for the first time this season. Oh my. 15 minutes with the chainsaw and angle-grinder, and my wrists are spaghetti. No doubt about it, this is going to take some conditioning.

In other news, I'm still thinking about the layout and order of things. I figure the saguaro will have to be assembled at the END of the competition, 'cause of the danger it would pose to those of us working around it. Plus, I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts about the bats. Tim's fighting hard for the cougar, and I'm beginning to wonder how much time would be sunk into the bats, which have a great chance of breaking anyway. We'll see.

I grabbed small cougar figurine and a Toob of desert wildlife and as models for sculpting. As a bonus, there's a roadrunner in the pack. hmmm... a roadrunner would be cool. coyote? oh, where to stop? The one thing I wanted, a Javelina figure, seems to be unattainable up here in AK. Maybe I'll entreat upon one of my AZ friends to send me up one....

Icecarving team taking shape

It's official! Tim's coming up from the Congo to help carve. That's a guaranteed 3-member team, with Katie probably coming up to lend a hand. With that knowledge in hand, I've formally submitted our application. On the to-do list: just about everything. (sigh)

First brainstorming - clay model

Yesterday, Jill came over to put a chisel to ice. The weather was cold and windy, and there was plenty of other modeling to do, so instead we worked on a clay model and discussed some possible carving techniques.

At right, you see the fruits of our labors. There's a mountain in the background that wraps around, with a waterfall (green clay) leading into a pool at which a few Javalina (mom & babies) are drinking. Crossbedding will show that the mountain is actually fossilized sand dune. A small saguaro flanks the scene (right), with a damaged spot showing the internal ribs. There's a large saguaro (probably ~18' when completed), jackrabbit, and mouse poking nose out of saguaro. The yellow ribbony thing represents a bat-flight, exiting a cave in the background, and looping around behind the saguaro (this will be tricky). There's tracks on the ground (as represented by the yellow blotch of clay), and plenty of prickly pear cacti. The pile of tubes represents a cholla plant, and a barrel cactus sits off to the left. Stanchions are small prickly-pear plants.

The items within the clay model are not to scale yet.

Next: The figures within the model have to be scaled out, so we know how much ice we have, as well as the size of each item within. Also, we need to figure out how things will be manufactured.

'Tis the season (again)

The Icealaska world ice art championship is right around the corner, and being the fool that I am, I'll be leading a team in the Multiblock competition (28 Feb - 5 Mar). We get to carve up ten blocks, each approximately 6' x 4' x 3', turning them into some sort of scene.

My team was likely to consist of Jeremy Harbek, Jill Shipman, Tim Macintyre, and myself. It turns out, though, that Jeremy has his nose to the grindstone throughout the spring, as he's trying to graduate, so a replacement is needed. Tim happens to be in Africa, but brief email exchanges thusfar make me optimistic that he'll be able to tear himself away for the competition. While, as far as I know Tim doesn't have any ice carving experience, he's been known to wield the chainsaw and I'd bet he is at home with heavy equipment. Jill has carved in the Amateur competition a couple times, but has never competed.

I'm currently hoping that my friend and previous carving partner, Katie Hessen, will be able to take the mantle from Jeremy. The only problem is that she's in Africa right now (coincidence), and has a real job. She's got tools and has worked on just about everything that I've carved, including "Ahab" from a previous multiblock competition.

As for me, I've carved in the multiblock once: lots of chainsawing, and basically just following directions. I've also carved in the single-block once, and have done several other sculptures in the amateur competition, the kid's park and a couple other places. This'll be my first captaining of such a large project.

The project itself: "Sonoran Sunset" (or some such name). I've recently returned from a trip to the deserts around Tucson, where I managed to gather some resistance to our weather (currently -32F ), as well as gained inspiration for this project. A mock-up photo (1st really-really-rough draft) is included here.

Within the photo: Saguaro cacti, cholla cactus, barrel cactus, plenty of prickly-pear, and javelinas drinking at a desert oasis, with a small waterfall cascading off some rocks (fossilized sand-dunes). In the original mock-up, I have a mountain lion looking on... he might reappear, but I actually envision a bat-flight instead. The cactus may have a creature ot two poking out, and there may be tracks in the "sand" nearby.

That just about wraps it up

Sunday, August 31, 2008 : Seward to Fairbanks
We were incredibly lucky on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous. The water was flat. The winds were calm. Today, rain threatened, and finally made good on its threats. We spent the morning in the Sea Life Center, where mom was thoroughly entranced by the puffins.

After lunch, we high-tailed it back north. We zipped along up the Turnagain, past Anchorage, and onward. Night finally overtook us as we ate pizza in a small shop just south of the Entrance of Denali. Then, we passed through glitter gulch, and high-tailed it back home. We arrived back at Belfair at about 1am. Hurray!

Seaward in Seward

Saturday:

We took the fancy-schmancy tour of Kenai Fjords. Puffins, Humpback Whales, Cormorants, Gulls, Sea lions, Otters, and Calving glaciers were the order of the day. This small paragraph, utterly understates it, but the photos sure won't. (The route was the yellow route from the photo)

On the boat, we also met a cool traveler, Theresa, who is touring around after spending a little while up Barrow way. Lunch was served on the boat, and Dinner was a salmon bake on Fox Island.

I connnected back up with Theresa and her coworkers at a local bar to chat, drink Alaskan Beer, and dance to a really cool group that consisted of two people and a lot of rhythm.

Unboring Tidal Bores

Friday:
Seward Bound. We got up pretty early and had breakfast with Chloe at Middleground cafe(?), next to REI. Mom picked up some more harty rain and winter gear at a store nearby, while Chloe and I poked around REI.

Also, today, I learned that our governor is up for the job of McCain's VP. Hmm. Newspaper headline: Bear attack in Gateway to the Arctic.

Mom and I took most of the day wandering in and around the Turnagain Arm. We had lunch in Girdwood, then watched the tidal bore come on in. Also, we got to see several beluga whales that were following the bore. They were playing around and even getting relatively close to shore. Plenty of photos were taken.

Afterward, we went to portage, where we got a view of a couple glaciers and saw some beautiful (if not slightly beat up) salmon. Bright red bodies and green heads.

We arrived in Seward to remember that today marked the start of the Labor Day weekend. The beach is full of RV's, and there was a steady stream of traffic all the way to Seward. We found a camp site right in town, though. Dinner was awesome.