Ever heard of the artist Deborah Butterfield? She makes jumbo horse sculptures out of found metal and wood and cast bronze. Her work is in major museums and collections throughout the country. I’m wild about her driftwood horses. Well, halfway through our Maine vacation, on a whim, we decided to take a crack at making our own.
We worked for four days, pretty much nonstop. Once our horse began to take shape, we became obsessed. Each morning, we’d scour the beaches for parts, ferry them up to the house in the tractor’s wagon, and lay them out in our boneyard on the lawn. We fastened the pieces with wooden dowels and glue; no screws.
So, meet Dashwood. Here’s how he took form.
Our friends Sam and Lisa helped us get started. The dowels were Sam’s idea.
Notice here the remains of those scrumptious watermelon cocktails Zoe made (see previous entry):
We finished him our final morning on the island. The sun came out just in time for our photos on the front lawn:
My mother photographed him at sunset, after we’d gone:
The next day, the ocean was flat-calm. Dashwood went ashore on the barge, thanks to my mother, John, Ed, Matt, and Wendy:
