Clougha Egg Cairns

Snow Ice Cairn

Constructed by placing beech and hazel autumn leaves onto a rounded river stone. Made in the village of Abbeystead in the Forest of Bowland near to Lancaster in the North West of England.

"I went back up to the place I made the other snow and ice sculptures in the afternoon and started to make the base of a cairn with ice. I didn't take a torch with me and I had to give up when it was too dark to see. I chopped some more ice before going home ready for the morning. I hoped that the base would freeze and be strong. I returned before dawn to finish it off but now the ice had frozen solid and I couldn't now dig any more out. How am I going to finish it now?! So instead I used frozen snow to build up the top which still lay on the grass around the ice. I didn't intend to build a cone cairn exactly like Andy Goldsworthy's but it just seemed to grow in that way. I can see why AG builds cones as it is a shape that just appears when you make it strong, a natural form that is inherent in the material. If you don't know what I mean you'll just have to build one!" From Escher.

Clougha Egg Cairn, Birk Bank, Clougha, near Lancaster, Lancashire, UK

"The cairn, by Richard 'Escher' Shilling, was constructed over three days in late October, using millstone grit from mine spoil in the immediate area. Stunning work – I hope it lasts!
Sadly, it won't. The Westminster Estate has instructed Escher to dismantle it and create no more artworks on their land (and the Duke is possibly the primary landowner in Northern England). I'm deeply disappointed."

More Clougha Egg Cairns on http://www.flickr.com