There and Back...again.

I have so much to tell, that I think it's going to take a few posts to get through it. That's ok. Where to begin? How about inside the magic?

Along with several helpers, Janis (Dan's wife) kept all of us more than well fed and full of energy.  In the middle of making the new house a home and all of the life events that surround us all, she made "home cooking" really mean it.   We dined inside the new house several times and each one was a treat in more ways than one.  She serves an awesome item they call "pink stuff" and they can add another fan.  Dan simply wouldn't be Dan without Janis.  She deserves a great deal of credit...Thank you Janis!

During what felt like a blink of an eye, I welded, added wire mesh, learned to properly (and improperly) mix concrete mud, added mud to the mesh, carved the concrete...sculpted a dragon, visited many of Dan's completed projects, attached more wire mesh, made new friends and got lost in Chilliwack at least twice. 

During the course of the workshop, we worked on our own magic sculpt projects. I decided on a Chinese dragon.

I wanted a little "life" in him, so I gave him a curve in his neck with some steel pencil rod.  The rough shape was built up with aluminum foil and then rough coated with magic sculpt.  There were many amazing pieces made by my fellow classmates, and I'll share them in a future post.

We began our concrete work by attaching mesh to boards, then adding concrete.  The trick is to allow the concrete to dry a few hours and then carve. Dan showed us some techniques for carving brick, rock and several kinds of wood. These are my first samples:

The next project included welding...We first added rings and connecting pieces of 1/4" steel pencil rod to the rough tree shape Dan had welded.

Next, the shape was covered in a wire mesh.  Eventually, my fingers will recover...actually it got much easier with more practice.  After a visit to one of Dan's projects, we returned to carve.  I had the pleasure to work with an Australian named Phil who helped me with the welding.  He's a patient and skilled and very kind man.  Phil, I promise to keep the weld gun close to the work, and in the gas!
The carving was a blast.

Between bits and pieces I kept working on my dragon:

When the workshop ended, I stayed on a couple days to practice and generally plant the new ideas and skills firmly in my head.  I had a chance to wire and help with part of a huge project Dan is working on for a Giggle Ridge expansion:

I had a chance to work with a future blockbuster film maker named TJ (in the red) and Dan's new employee Marty.  Dan's team is strong, hard working and skilled at making it look easy. I'll introduce more of them later.

I've often wondered how Dan did so much work and still managed photos of it all...I may have discovered the secret.  This is Hailey...when she's  not taking selfies, she's keeping everything on track and working hard:

Eventually, the dragon got some paint:

Next time I'll introduce more of Dan's team, many of my fellow classmates and new friends and show you some personal pictures of Dan's projects. Stay Tuned for more!