EvilFlea is a collection of doodles, poems and stories created by
Phil Hatchard when he really ought to have more important things to do

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Monday, February 02, 2009

Another Interlude to Proceedings...

A couple of years ago I made these snowmen when the school I worked in was closed because of the weather.

It happened again today (different school though), so I donned my polar buff and arctic jacket, armed myself with a broken spatula and my house keys, and set off for Waterlow Park in Highgate.

And found it locked.

But I also found people climbing the wall. Several people told me that the park had earlier been open but then closed on Health & Safety grounds (creating the marvellous H&S risk that is people climbing over walls), but I later found out from The Man From Arusha that the man had never come to unlock it in the first place, because he couldn't get there.

And so after lifting a couple of small boys over into the park, I was able to set about starting this year's creation. I had been thinking of several snowmen in a ten-pin bowling themed massacre, but realised very quickly how much work that would involve, and decided against it.

My friend Amy suggested that since it is Groundhog today I should either do a ground hog, or Andie MacDowell's face. Andie McDowell's face was quickly ruled out on the grounds that I don't know how to airbrush a snow sculpture, and I'm not entirely familiar with the anatomy of a groundhog.

So I did this beaver instead:

Waterlow Park - Snow Beaver! Waterlow Park - Snow Beaver! Waterlow Park - Snow Beaver!

And I was quite please with the result. It was originally going to be wearing a top hat, but I couldn't do the brim, so it ended up with a fez instead. And a frock coat.

Passers-by seemed contradictory as to whether it is a boy or a girl, but I'm fairly sure it's a girl. One person asked me if I snowsculpt for a living, which pleased me, although by no means could I be bothered to get it perfect - it took me two hours as it was, and I was knackered by the end of it. I'm still slightly annoyed about the face though. I tried so hard to use clean snow but I obviously cocked up somewhere.

All I need to do now is some work. And make soup.

The full photo set: Clicky
From the Series:

3 comments:

  1. I might add that it was also really nice to have Londoners saying hello and talking and smiling with complete strangers.

    You don't often see that.
    ReplyDelete
  2. very rare that. hope you enjoyed it while you could. i spent about 2 minutes mashing together a mini snowman before my hands froze but it's the thought that counts. your snow beaver is lovely - perhaps the person who asked if you're a snow scupltor was chatting you up...??
    ReplyDelete
  3. Um, no.

    And thank you. I was wearing the gloves I bought for climbing Kili - they're amazing, I could take them off and get cold hands, and then put them on again, and my hands would soon warm up even though the gloves were wet.
    ReplyDelete

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