A portrait of an unknown monk - sand sculpture

Here is the last piece I made for the 2014 Fulong beach project in Taiwan. I had one more day left and a bank of sand to put manners on. I must say it was a brutal project because of the heavy, almost continual rain. My energy levels were also pretty low after the last piece so I was pretty much carving on autopilot.

I don't actually know who this was supposed to be exactly. All I know was he was some sort of famous monk that I was given some resource materials on and asked to create a portrait of him.

There was some text and a temple beside him that someone else carved, which may explain his identity. I was glad they didn't ask me to do the text as I would have been just transcribing it as an image and not have a clue what I was writing. This, I am sure could have made it illegible and knowing my luck I could have insulted someone.

As a project and country, I really enjoyed Taiwan. The work was difficult but the grace and kindness of the locals made up for it. People were always so helpful. I visited Taipei a few times on days off and every time I took out my map to see where the hell I was someone would approach me and ask could they help.

Normally when I go to a big city I will usually try and find the underground markets far off from the tourist routes. This is where you will find the best prices and the most interesting nick-knacks. I got a few gadgets and yokeymebobs but unfortunately nothing to write home about.

It was also a nice group of sculptors to hang out with and although we were all tired in the evening from the unrelenting rain we had some fun times,

As an Irish person, I thought that we held the record for rainfall but apparently, that title should go to Taiwan.