Sep 2018 – A Day In the Park

Today was the day we had arranged to get out into the heritage park and install our beloved wolf onto his rock.

The weather was not optimal with a cold wind and overcast skies, however, rain and snow was forecast for every other available day so it was now or never!

We all wandered down to the park and everyone had a nice relaxed vibe.  It made a nice change to be unmasked and out in the fresh air beside the waters edge, free from the confines of the workshop.  Our mission (already accepted) is to get our wolf in place, add a few under-neck pieces to muskox, tidy/level up Fred’s paws and install the ravens nest on his pole.

We watched the loader bring our wolf down the road, swinging in the wind, provided some great theater and excitement to our experience. The chaps set about chopping up some pieces of rusty steel that we could use to artistically level the wolfs paws on the rock and then weld onto rebar set into predrilled holes.  They all got to try out the stick welder (great practice with something new) and worked together very cohesively as a team, taking turns while one warmed up in the truck and switched around as necessary.  They helped Kerry with Freds tweaks and then cut larger chunks out of the old steel with gas torch to pop under muskox.  Their proficiency with the tools and equipment has progressed in leaps and bounds!

Kerry then drove the lift around the back and Attima helped him fix the raven onto the pole while we all gave thumbs up, down, left and right to help with levelling – that was interestingly amusing.

We got it all finished by around 2pm and then sat around our beautiful sculptures for a little bit to just enjoy them and reflect on our massive accomplishments together.  A little bit it was as we were pretty chilled to the bone and a bit hungry – it was decided that we deserved a slap-together lunch at our place with a nice hot cocoa, the couch and a movie.  All in all it was a truly wonderful day, probably my most favorite day of all – just beating out the iglu build day!  

August 2018 – Wolf #2 Part Two

The long awaited completion of Wolf #2!  We made it back in August this year, slightly different season so no ice but still chilly for summer.

We picked up right where we left off and whilst there has been an 8 month gap since our last visit these guys were totally ready, eager and waiting to get stuck in – really impressive how much they have retained in their short bursts of time with us and so very encouraging to have them chat with us about what’s been happening in their world, their ideas and an excitement to get busy and make them happen.

We sourced out some new materials at the scrap yard, set up our workspace again and picked up our wolf to look him over with fresh eyes.  Oh my goodness, sooo much work to be done to finish, seriously, who said we were halfway there….two guesses!

The boys got stuck in with strapping to get every inch of his body covered, so lots of welding practice.  We got him coated and then decided that his shape was just not coming together quite right, you frequently have to stand back from what you are doing and get a good look at how the structure is taking form as it is so easy to just power on and then discover that the scale is all wrong!!  It was quickly decided that he needed to be taller – gas torch was fired up and his feet were chopped off and rebar framing welded on to extend legs.  Next big change was to find him one shade of fur to coat over existing strapping in order to stand up to the climate as we felt his strapping was not going to be adequate long term.  Metal dump had loads of old oil tanks – perfect – a sleek shade of grey and excellent thickness of steel for longevity.

Fur, fur and more fur.  The fur was cut in a manner so as to depict a layered rock-like texture, inspired by the inukshuks you see everywhere.  With literally each piece of fur being specifically selected and welded and hammered one at a time this was a massive task.  All of the boys worked on this in two’s, it is this part of the process where the artistry is key so Kerry’s undivided attention is required to ensure it doesn’t start looking off (for lack of a better word).  This is where we all become like assistants to the Michelangelo of the build.  We can offer muscle, ideas, critique, take direction and follow instructions but ultimately the responsibility of the finished product lies with the artists eye and expertise in the medium.  That being said it is imperative that the boys be immersed in this process and the complexities of it as it aids their self development and highlights strengths, weaknesses, teamwork, critical thinking and problem solving in a very tangible way.

This wolf had many, many subtle and not-so-subtle alterations to reach his final shape and we were all extremely proud of his finished form!  The boys all cut out their names and welded them to his belly, along with our own and it really felt special!  The next blog will cover the mounting of him in the park – so many great memories to treasure.

Nov 2017 – Meet Andrew and Co

Meet our newest recruit, Andrew Kitigon.  Andrew is 16 years old and is a good friend of Keenan Allukpik who is the eldest of our group and been with us since the beginning.  Keenan thought Andrew would be a good fit for our team and wow, after one day we were in total agreement and most impressed with this young mans talents!

Andrew is full of ideas and creativity and it would seem has been waiting for an opportunity like this to open the floodgates and get as many of them out as possible!  We got the boys to familiarize themselves with the plasma cutting process and practice making their own things from some new patterns that we brought up with us.  Andrew grabbed the Caribou, cut it out of drum lid and then grabbed some wire mesh and told me how he wanted to attach it to the background – lets make that happen!  I found some welding wire that is a nice copper colour and we basically used it to sew the mesh onto the back of the frame.  It made for such a great effect and was something new and different so it was a seamless fit for us all.

L-R – Daryl Haynes, Mike Haniliak, Andrew Kitigon, Keenan Allukpik

Andrew then proceeded to create his own pattern, the Peregrine Falcon… I was like, the whatta whatta… I had to google it.  He drew it out and it came out beautifully, he ground off the paint for the sun and rays, just fantastic.  Cant believe what a great start all of the boys had with their creations when they have only collectively had about 3 weeks using these tools, or should I say sharing the one plasma cutter and one welder amongst them all – awesome, awesome, awesome.

L-R – Andrew Anivilok, Robert Haynes

à L-R – Andrew Kitigon, Daryl Haynes, Kerry Illerbrun, Keenan Allukpik, Mike Haniliak

Nov 2017 – Wolf #2 Part One

Its November 2017 and we winged our way back to Cambridge Bay to continue on with boys wolf sculpture, finish up our wolf Fred and work on a few side projects (just because).

From our original 9 young men, there have been a few changes, some of the boys have had sport and school take priority and that is absolutely fine and encouraged!  We have five originals and Keenan brought a new young man with him named Andrew Kitigon and he has been an amazing fit to form our six strong group who are making awesome progress and enjoying themselves.

In this first part of wolf construction you see the 3D steel sctructure that boys tacked together from the blown up silhouette.  They predominantly worked on this with Elisabeth and myself to construct a shape of their own and see where it goes.  They decided that they wanted their wolf to be more akin to what they are used to seeing up here and that was a fitting decision. Kerry kept a watchful eye as it unfolded but really wanted them to take it as far as they could on their own.

They started layering their wolf with strapping to see how far they could coat him before our time was up – 2 weeks is so short and we cram in all kinds of creating in conjunction with the larger sculptures so it most definitely got to about the halfway point by time we left.  Boys were pleased with their progress and got a lot of welding practice in thats for sure!

Here are some progress pictures..

The Evolution of Fred

So here is Fred – Kastawayz wolf created for the Heritage Park installation.  In April 2017 we had a little spare time on completion of the Muskox to flesh out an idea for one of the challenging wolves.

We were scouting the workshop for bits and bobs we could use to make this and thankfully Fred, the mechanic in the workshop, observed us scavenging about and quietly approached with a bucket full of old car and truck parts and asked if any of them would work…. ahhh, hell yes they would!!  Next thing you know Fred is finding all sorts of useful, oddly shaped parts and leaky hoses out of his bin – it was fantastic.  There was no doubt this wolf was going to go by any other name… thank you Fred!

Here is a picture of myself with our gracious workshop buddies who were patient, generous, ever-helpful and complete gentlemen!  We couldnt have done all we were able to accomplish without them and we are very grateful to have shared the experience with them for our first three visits North.  From L-R we have Larry, myself, Ron and Fred.  Thanks guys!

Right, back to Kastawayz wolf.   You will notice that the top two wolf pictures are quite different, this was the rough version of Fred tacked together a few days before we left.  When we returned in November we refined his look somewhat so that he conceptualized our interpretation of one challenge to the Muskox and the culture and tradition he represents.  It is up to the viewing public to speculate what that challenge may be…

On arrival back in Cambridge Bay this August we were very excited to see Fred mounted in place on his own rock in the Heritage Park.    A lot of landscaping has been completed through the summer with more progress expected to happen whilst we are here.  There is a vacant rock to left of Fred awaiting the new wolf that we have been working on with the boys – objective is to have this finished and in place before we depart!!

Lets Rewind…..

As the title suggests, lets rewind and read about our project from the beginning!

The Big Reveal…

1st July 2017 – Canada 150

Our magnificent Muskox was finally unveiled atop his forever rock for all to see and enjoy!!  Unfortunately Kerry and I did not make it up north for the unveiling as July is one of our busiest months of the year and we were in full production mode.

Marla sent through some up-to-the-minute pics of the rock in its spot overlooking the bay and a NAILBITING video of the muskox being lifted into position on his rock.  There was a slip and a definate wobble, we held our breath and I could only see as much as the small gap in my fingers would allow, it was then that I recognised the man on the controls was Newfoundland Randy and all fear was gone, mission accomplished😅👌

The sun was shining in the big blue sky, there were a few ice blocks bobbing around in the bay and zero snow on the ground, just the dusty brown rock surface of summer in the arctic.  Our ‘OOOH’ moment happened when we saw just how well the muskox’ vibrant fur coat contrasted and popped with the summer landscape hues equally as well as the stark white of winter – fabulous!!

Here is a snapshot of brothers Robert & Daryl from our group sitting proudly with their Umingmak!