Greatest hits and b-sides - snow sculpture
Inspired by @nonameslefttouse I have decided it is high time we revisit some of my earlier posts. Steem can be great and all but the idea that I put so much work into my posts sometimes and see them land like a damp squib can be annoying. Having the 7 day window for a post makes sense for the blockchain but for the content creator it can be very frustrating. If your post doesn't get seen in the first day by someone who has some sway in the community like curators, your post will be gone forever hidden like a remote control down the back of sofa.
Let me tell you a bit about what I am doing here on Steem. I have been a sculptor for over twenty years and specialise in working with sand, snow and ice. As mediums they don't last and I kind of like that about them. to me they are as much a performance as they are a finished piece of work, like a kind of sketch of an idea. This has allowed me to experiment and create without the shame that my failures would live on to haunt me.
But now I see that the entire process of my career has made me and my work what it is today. I had been meaning to document my work for a long time, if not for me for my family and the world to have some way of remembering me if they so wish. When I heard of Steem, I thought this would be a great platform for doing it, the promise of blockchain that could not be deleted or censored and the hope that somewhere along the way I could even get awarded real moneys if people liked what I did was the catalyst I was searching for . It was like a book advance on each chapter I wrote. In theory anyway. The 7 day window was limiting but I would still have complete control over the content I created and be able to monetize it by other avenues if they came along.
Where am I today. Well I've documented 87 sand sculptures, 18 ice sculptures and around 6 or 7 snow sculpture and I am not even half way through. Each of my posts shows the sculpture and talks of the process that went into it. They also cover the great adventures I have had as I traveled around the world making them. What started about my art work has become somewhat of a memoir of my life.
In general I have been happy with my success on Steem and thankful to all the great people that interacted with me these last two years. but as I said lots of my work fell through the cracks and some deserve a second outing for my new followers.
Taking @nonamesleftttouse lead I will now and again re-present some of my greatest hits and B-sides
Today I will revisit some of my snow sculpture because these have been some of my favourite posts, not always for the sculptures but for the stories that surround them. So without further ado.
Snow sculpture
póg mo thóin
This was my first foray into snow sculpture and was made in Perm, Russia. It was an amazing time to visit this city deep in the heart of post Soviet Union. Learning by doing in the hardest way possible is the best way and having a wonderful culture shock thrown in made this still, to this day one of my fondest memories. The post earn me .70cent.
https://steemit.com/art/@ammonite/my-introduction-to-snow-sculpture-snow-sculpture
Dr snow and the attack of the greedy cude
A few years later we return again to Perm. Things are never the same but the adventure was still as cool. Wonderful characters and getting shafted by the mafia. This post really made me believe in the power of Steem earning me a whopping $47.58
https://steemit.com/art/@ammonite/dr-snow-and-the-attack-of-the-greedy-cube-snow-sculpture
Davos iglu-dorf
For several years now I have helped make this igloo Hotel up in the alps. Me and one other sculpture have to carve the whole 17 rooms into a themed experience over the course of two weeks. I love this job as it feels like an impossible mission working at high altitude and horrible conditions. But the sense of satisfaction at the end is amazing you really need to be a sculpting machine to make it achievable. Worth every penny of the .39cents it earned.
https://steemit.com/art/@ammonite/iglu-dorf-snow-sculpture
Loop de loop
My first time to Korea and oh boy I loved it. Everything about the culture and it's people. The snow was melting as we carved so we had to work at night to make it possible. Having some time to visit Seoul at the end was like traveling to the future. This got me .59cent for my efforts.
https://steemit.com/art/@ammonite/loop-de-loop-snow-sculpture
Snow White
I decided with this sculpture to start making a daily blog, I call it a plog of how I make these things. By the end of the week I was happy with the .69cent I got from this post. Every Steem is a Steem and making anything from my work on top of what I get for carving is a bonus. I am just so lucky that Steem isn't my job but maybe just maybe in years to come when my body fails me I will be able to still produce content and be able to have some sort of income from the content I produce now.
https://steemit.com/art/@ammonite/snow-white-ice-snow-sculpture
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Thank you very much.
You've regularly been making dollars instead of cents now so I think you're doing all right :D
And about time too though I know it's hard work
I've never understood B-sides though (and I have been around long enough to have had to use casette tapes XD)
Yes I am very happy with the success of my posts. These were from the early days when sometimes I felt like I was dancing while nobody watched.
I just hope that all genuine content creators on Steem start to see benefits from this new hardfork.
I am very glad also that the new creative tribes are helping with the curation efforts.
The b-side thing goes all the way back to the days of vinyl record singles where they would have the main chart song on the A side and on the B side was usually a track of questionable quality that never made it to the album. Now I am showing my age.
Wishing you all the success you deserve.
LoL ahh yes I was slightly too young for vinyl XD I do recall there being some records in a relative's house but I think I only ever saw them being used at the radio station when I went with my friend and his older brother who had a segment for a little while.
Thanks ^_^
Wow, thanks for making me feel really old ;). They still sound amazing even today. That analogue sound beats digital any day.
You have a small child right? You cannot be that much older than me XP
Yes I have a 4 year old boy. He's great fun although I really wished I had him when I was younger and had more energy. I'm only 45 but these last four years have really aged me. Congrads on your latest post.
Ahh you had him later, you are a bit older than me (but not a huge bit XD).
Thanks ^_^
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Thank you, thank you.