My son was a few months old when I made this sand sculpture. If you are a parent yourself you will know how all-consuming it is. Even when people tell you it will be a life-changing experience, in the back of your mind you will be thinking, It's just a baby I'll rear it between all the other stuff I do. Wake up! there will be no time for other stuff. Life will never be the same again. The you in you will be no more and strangely you will be happy, tired but happy to make all these changes for this little creature
Keeping a breast of things
Clodagh had hoped that nursing Fintan would be a breeze and that mother nature would make it easy. No such luck. It was a few months of infections, blockages and pain. It was not the beautiful, relaxing experience that we had thought. Finally, a lactation specialist we employed said that Clodagh had done all she could and that for the sake of her own well being we should find a better way. So every mealtime Clodagh would express with a pump and I would bottle it into him. Letting Clodagh rest as much as she could while I feed the critter.
To keep bread on our table I also needed to work. Lactation specialists aren't cheap and neither are nappies. Our annual Dublin Castle sand sculpture project was getting close and even though I had fit in all the work to organise it with my friend Niall. I had no clue of what to make.
It was the night before carving and all through the house, nothing was stirring except for Fintan suckling his bottle. It was the wee small hours, Clodagh was sleeping and I still had no idea what to make.
Emotional States
The Theme was 'Emotion States'. We like to give ourselves a theme that we can take for a long walk and explore what it means personally to us. As I sat there with our baby in my arms, falling in and out of consciousness and him starring up at me as alert as ever. It came to me, this moment would be my sculpture. I took a visual snapshot and checked the time for a title. This was and would be my Emotional state.
I loved the way his little hands held my fingers as he was steering the proceeding. He knew I was on the verge of sleep and didn't trust me to hold the bottle properly. Wind can be a terrible end to a perfect meal, he was not taking any chances.
He was so small but, perfect in every way. The contrast between his smooth skin and my gnarly hands was something I wanted to capture. I tried to think would the larger than life forms translate to sand. I wanted to supersize this moment as it was all that there was in my life, this connection between me and my son at that very moment. Love creates blinkers and I wanted to create focus cutting out the rest of the world.
Details aren't details, they make the product.
We had bought special bottles for feeding that were supposed to help reduce swallowing air and colic, something that Fintan was suffering from. I marvelled at the design all the way down to the lettering on the base.
It was going to be a simple sculpture in lots of respects but a very personal Emotional snapshot of how I felt at that moment. Now I needed to get some sleep so I could be up bright and early to make it. Clodagh would bottle feed Fintan with the supplies we had stored in the freezer so I could go back to work.
We had two other sculptures in the castle that year. One by Niall and one by English carver Nicola Wood. I will do another post someday to document these. I liked how the exhibition looked from a distance and revealed more detail as you got closer.
Ps
Thanks for reading. I use PeakD to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, amongst other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Hive Blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.
Daddy's boy - Family and a little sand sculpture
A drink with an Alien - sand sculpture
Bright ideas - sand sculpture
I hope you'll join me again soon
@ammonite
If you would like to support me
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I am also starting to create NFTs of my sculptures and welcome you to my gallery where you can own a bit of ephemeral sculpture history
Really powerful piece. I feel like I should share it with my brothers who are both recent parents.
Not necessarily. Postpartum depression is the widespread but generally unacknowledged dark side of becoming a parent. It happens to about 10-20% of new mothers in Western countries and may be up to 65% of mothers in Asian countries. It also commonly affects new fathers.
Recently watched a film on Netflix about it, Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, which was banned in China and many Asian countries because it is such a taboo topic.
I can only speak for myself. Luckily, dealing with depression is not something I have not had to experience. My life as a parent has not been a bed of roses and this year in particular things are being thrown at me that will be life changing. Maybe one day I will be telling everything to a psychiatrist but at the moment I am just putting one foot in front of the other and dealing with the things I can. I will say that my blog here on Hive has been a great support and distraction for me. Trying to give myself some me time has helped me face the challenges.
It takes a village to raise a child so making sure you have supports in place and a strong person to share the responsibility will hopefully make it a rewarding experience.
great work, as usual. Reblogged and tweeted:
Thank you very much @thermoplastic. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a great new year to come.
Thank you so much for sharing that. And you´re so f*cking right with your first words. I´m sorry for your wife that she suffered when she tried breastfeeding. It´s different here, I've been always the bottle (and pacifier) for my children, my husband was never allowed to feed them. Lucky him, so he had some evenings off while I still don´t ;) But I know, I´ll miss these times as soon as they are gone.
Such a great work and I love how you shaped the different surfaces of the skin.
It was a tough time and I don't know how we got through it but, we did. He got all the best nutrients that his mother could provide and for that we are grateful. Now he always seems to be raiding the fridge like he owns the place.
I miss the feeds and even the nappy changes it was good bonding time and even though I tried to share all the responsibilities 50/ 50 he is still a mommies boy.
Thank @patschwork
oh my!!!!! wowza
the SIZE of it. That is just totally impressive. Yes babies are all consuming. Min is currently sitting on my knee because the floor is too far away from mummy... sigh....
the struggle to do things especially at late notice like go to a movie after dinner... require so much planning..
what a beautiful capture
i love your work
It is not actual size. Fintan was much smaller, luckily. I remember so vividly his little hand wrapped around the top of my thumb. We have spent lots of time together, especially these last two years and I must say it has been so much fun and a great excuse for me to be a child again.
I have given up on trying to plan a night out, something always happens to change the plans. I have gotten a lot more impulsive and just go for it when the moment feels right.
Thank you so much @blingit
well gorgeous none the less!!
I miss tiny babies... you get lost in those moments when you hold them don't you.
Hope you have a lovely day.
Sarah
Awww this was so beautiful to read. You have used your own paternal experience to sculpt this. I am sure that parenting is hard, all parents say it is. Those little hands...so adorable. Babies melt anyone's heart, they are a joy to have. I know that lactation can be tough for women, it is nice to read that you have been there for support . You are a great husband and father. Happy holidays🤗
Thank you so much for saying this. Sometimes I feel lost in the forest as a father. I really try my best because I want him to have the same respect for me that I had for my father. He was a professional, I am still a student. Happy Christmas and soon to be New Year.
I can understand as I see many parents doing fantastic efforts for their offsprings. It is admirable, I admire them. The job of a parent seems like the most difficult positione one can apply for lol. And you can't resign or take a vacation. What matters is that you give your best and kids feel that
Happy soon to be 2022🤗
This is a masterpiece 👏👏👏 ❤️😻❤️...the size and thee detailing is top notch 🔥🔥🔥
Cheers @tblings-art. I love playing with the detail on big forms like this. So they work from a distance and then as the viewer gets closer more is revealed.
Another genial artwork 😍
Thank you very much. I don't how I had the energy at the time to put this together.
It's your love and passion that made it possible 🤗
Lovely, creating magic through sands, making art come alive ❤️
Nice story
Thank you @ykdesign . It was a personal piece for me and I am so happy the moment connected with others.
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it is an extraordinary work.