Day Twenty

November 19

Well another day survived
Time is running out though it seems like there is lots of time left.
There are so many things that still need to be worked on.
Today I concentrated on one side of "Armi's" inner beauty
and with it came something new for me.
Pneumatic tools.
I had purchased a pneumatic chisel before I left, cause I was told I would
need it.
To be honest I never used one before....
Yeah why wade into the water slowly...
Like normal I just dive right in and off I go.
I have been secretly observing how some of the other sculptors use theirs,
trying to see when and how it is used....
I was gonna wait till nobody was around in case something bad happened...
Actually the tool works quite well, I can see it being very useful in
marble, granite might be a bit hard for it sometimes...
but it does work well in this marble....

Vigilance....

If there is one thing that gets me in tropical climates, it is the bugs...
Never enough and always a bigger one around the corner.

To my luck, until today, I have only encountered a few cockroaches, only one small
one in my room, and the larger 3 inches long ones outside....
I have received a few mysterious bug bites that do not want to heal well, but
nothing too serious.
I keep food out of my room so they have less reason to visit me.
And in one restaurant I did observe the lizards on the wall chasing bugs, and
moths...

Today I was carving away, and with chunks of marble flying everywhere, felt
a thud on my arm thinking it means just another stone....
until it itches and twitches....
and then out of the corner of my eye.....
Well If you ask me I was mauled ...
By a huge tarantula.....
OK OK
It was only 2 1/2 inches in span and really not sure what species, and really do not care.
It was crawling up my arm... going slowly for my throat....


Well the good news.
I did not scream like a school girl, as I did my little hebe jebe dance, as I tussled with
Arachna,
And then scoured the area for more surprises....
Any twitch or stone touching me there after, was immediately given attention....
Never thought to even watch for things like that...
Still nervous at anything moving in the corner of my eye.
Glad nobody was watching my little freak show..

I got into the flow of things this afternoon.
And since my hands only swell when I stop working, I decided to keep working, skipping supper and going till 10 PM
Only stopped cause the rain started hard again.
Well it still has not stopped raining.
Spirits are getting dampened and one of my grinders did die from rain exposure.
I do believe it is under warranty...

A lot of the sculptors are starting to suffer...
Poor foot wear, water pooling into their work space, a few reports of minor
electrocution, including myself, as I got zapped a few times.
And everyone always wet and damp....
You know I was gonna bitch that nobody was removing my pile of rubble from under me.
Usually a laborer rakes it away.
But well that is the only thing keeping me dry right now.
there is a huge pool of water under Armi, but by standing on the piles of
marble crush, I am able to keep my feet reasonably dry....
Some of the sculptors are getting chills, but me I am still climatized to a
colder world, so I am just hot muggy and sweating....  

The moisture is so bad the air compressor sprays more water than air and my dust mask just accumulates mud on it....
But, to be Honest I am still loving this.
I am enjoying myself.
A little behind the schedule I wanted, but eye on the prize right....

Pictures today.

Well number one is the lovely buffet dinner of lunch, if you look carefully
it does look a lot like last nights order.....

Next the early stages of finding the inner beauty.
When I start working on a female sculpture, I am always worried it will not
look right, and she will be ugly.
Well things seem to on a good start here.
I see why some sculptors chose milder ideas for a symposium.
Being short on time, and resources, it would be safer to choose something
less complex.
And some artists have mentioned this proposal is a bit much for my first time
at a symposium...
And that is why it is a passion... and that is why I am here

The Challenge....

Well I tried to get a clear image of my attacker......

And  my achievements of the day....

In all it was a good day.
But as I type I can already feel my hands swell.
I dread the pain that will come in the night.
But it is time to look forward to another day...

SAY