Sun, sea, sand and sculptures, Cottesloe Part 2

Cottesloe Beach holds many special memories for me, splashing in the shallows and building sandcastles as a child. Picnics shaded by the norfolk pines, fish and chip dinners on the grassy esplanade. Games of beach cricket. Cottesloe Beach was where my school friends and I ended our last day of school, swimming in our school uniforms. It was the last place I saw a special friend, before he was killed in a tragic accident. Years as a teenager, hanging out with friends, swimming out to the bell and working on our tans. The sunsets ...ahhh the sunsets, there is nothing like the vibrant streaks of yellow, orange and red glowing over the shimmering Indian Ocean at sundown.

This installation by Argentinian Alejandro Propato was dedicated to the beautiful sunset at Cottesloe Beach. To me it really captured the essence of a West Coast sunset, which is one of the things I really miss, living so far from home.

Alejandro's impression of the sunset with the Indian Ocean as a backdrop was one of my favourites of the exhibition. It was also a favourite of the kids, winning one of the two Kids' Choice awards.

'Overconsumption' made by Kerrie Argent from thousands of plastic lids and bottles, collected locally and sent to her from all over the globe. Like a beached, giant creature from the deep with a hairy skin of bottle tops,and an internal anatomy of bulbous bottles. A reminder of the tonnes of floating, plastic rubbish in our oceans. Kerrie Argent won the Western Australian Sculptor Scholarship with this sculpture.

'Plastic world' A planet built entirely with plastic rubbish from all the planet's oceans. It represented the ecological footprint of all countries of the world. By artists Carole Purnelle and Nuno May from Portugal, whose work has been presented all over the world and is driven by the common theme of humanity. It saddens me to think that with all the ocean gives to us, that the world continues to dishonour the ocean by filling it with rubbish.

I loved this sculpture 'embrace' by Ayad Alqaragholli, an Iraq born artist now living in Perth. To me it captures much happiness, freedom and love, embracing the sunshine and seizing the moment.

When we had our lunch at the Cottesloe Beach Hotel, the waiter told us that everyone had been talking about the 'Barbie Wave'. We thought he meant this little Barbie, with statements written over her body which was on display at "Sculptures inside" in the surf club and wondered what the fuss was about.

Until we came upon this...The Barbie Wave! Officially called Wave 1, by Annette Thas and described as such: "The wave of blonde barbie dolls alludes to childhood memories and social and environmental concerns. Do we drown or dive in and come out the other side"  This, unsurprisingly won one of the two Kids' Choice Awards and also the EY Peoples' Choice Award.

This delightful, colourful house was created by Helen Seiver of WA and was crocheted using common supermarket bags. The description states: " The work explores domestic responsibility for plastic waste disposal and its devastating impact on our water ways and oceans. The artist encourages domestic consciousness for this worldwide problem". Time to take your own fabric bags to the supermarket and say no to the plastic bags!

We were lucky to meet one of the artists. Mr Barclay Bailey, a Canadian who moved to Perth two decades ago and creator of 'windsong', a line of twenty striking sculptures made of steel, aluminium and fishing line. Each sculpture is a musical instrument, with the winds coming off the ocean creating soulful music on the beach. Incredible, beautiful, ethereal music. Mr Bailey was down at the beach tuning them to the wind conditions and was happy to chat. The sculptors had three days to put their creations in place, ok if you had a granite or stainless steel sculpture on a plinth. Hard work if you had to dig deep holes by hand for 20 poles in dry beach sand or if you had to plant thousands of flags in the sand, many of which disappeared as souvenirs! He also told us that someone had shot at 'The goon bag' with a bow and arrow, requiring a hasty patch job.

This impressive sculpture, the winds off the ocean spinning the arms, silver and yellow contrasting against the brilliant blue sky was mesmerising to watch, . Called " like a flower swaying in the wind" by Hiroyuki Kita from Japan was the winning sculpture of 2014

The 10th anniversary Sculpture by the sea at Cottesloe beach was a resounding success and I am so happy that my visit home coincided with the event. All 74 exhibits were pretty amazing and had stories to tell. I liked the use of the 'debris of life' in some of the sculptures and the impact these items have on our environment. A subtle and important message was implied.

Not sure if I will make it home for Sculpture by the sea in Cottesloe 2015, but there is the bi-annual Sculpture by the sea in Aarhus, Denmark in 2015. Only a short drive from Frankfurt, I am planning on making it there!