On my second day in Italy I gave up trying to connect to the internet with my laptop - the hotel phone system and my modem just couldn't seem to communicate. In a way it ws a relief; trying to post updates after a long day on the sand pile starts feeling like a major chore when I would rather be relxing over a cold one with the other sculptors.
Midway through the 4-day contest we had made it half way down the largest (approx. 9' tall) form and I had made some good progress on my "doomsday machine." Though I was heartily sick of carving butterflies, I thought we had it happening.... but Carl (my team mate) was less than thrilled with the way Mother Earth was shaping up. Was his unhappiness with the piece in any way responsible for the disaster that confronted us the next morning? He sure seemed to think so --

Sunday Morning
Collapse!
We arrived at the site yesterday to find a pile of unorganized sand where the main part of our sculpture used to be. Carl reckons it was the heavy clump of hair, severely undercut, that brought the thing down. Since we had not yet stripped the bottom form, we were able to do a new pound up on top of it in record time - about an hour. By noon we were nearly down to where we had been before the collapse and both agreed that the replacement piece had more grace, flow and dynamics then the first one. Two of the other teams experienced collapses as well - this sand does not seem to be quite as wonderful as everyone thought it was.
Today is the final day and we have much ground to cover. At the moment we look like we are doing two separate sculptures and so making them relate to each other is the top priority.

Sunday Evening
USA Wins!
It has been a long time indeed since I came home with a 1st place trophy - and it is Carl's first, ever. Yes we are thrilled with victory -- made all the sweeter by the amazing sculptures created by our worthy opponents. I was especially surprised that we were able to beat the Russian team's piece, a beautiful (and anatomically correct) Europa and the bull which took second place as well as People's Choice. We were the only team to use all the extra time and made an amazing recovery from yesterday's disaster.
I believe I am ready for that cold beer, now....

"Mother Nature, Inc. "(Mama Terra, Inc.) - by Carl Jara and sandy feet (USA)
A statement on how corporate and political interests have enchained and taken over control of our planet and its natural resources. Mother Nature extends her hands upward in a swirling DNA double spiral of butterflies - a beautiful image contrasted by the machinery and computer stuff that is controlling her. (see more pictures of this sculpture here.)