I poured the essence of Bowling.

PART3 The next few weeks were spent concentrating on work for the Lumsden Gala, in a way I was sort of avoiding the shield. I still went to the bowls on a Monday night. Each time I went I got better and better and found that I was growing in confidence and competitiveness, I was wanting to win and win in style. Soon after all my chat and glorification of the Bowl, another Ganghut member, Derek ‘Bingo’ Lodge, joined me. Derek came along out of curiosity and also because most of his work is about meeting people and making songs and videos about the experience of meeting new people. I liked his last video called “The Butcher Called Me Love”. It is one of the best pieces of artwork that I have ever seen, I am not just saying that cause he is a friend I do really mean it. If you ever get a chance to meet Derek ask him if you can see his video, or even better ask for a copy, I have been asking for a copy for around six months now and still no joy! So if you get a copy send me one! Going to the Bowls I began to think it would be nice to do some sort of artwork with the Bowling club. I think it was a little bit to do with Derek going. I knew that Derek might do some work with the Bowling club cause that’s what he does I did not feel threatened in anyway, its just that thing when people around you start doing work and you see this happening and you start to think ‘oh…I better start something’. Then it came to me. I was in the studio working on the shield in my sketchbook. Looking for designs and inspiration I was studding traditional Scottish targes, the picts and my own family history, well more of the history of my surname Haughey. I felt that I was struggling a bit, sort of looking for a design to copy or looking for a reason to do something. I liked the family history stuff that was coming up. The name Haughey is derived from the Irish name O’hEochaidh, whom were early Kings of Ulidia in Ireland around the 12th Century. There was also a nice family crest for Haughey, a white lion with a blue tongue and blue claws set against a red and yellow chequered background. I felt I was getting somewhere, very slowly. Then the epiphany. It came to me, I was making a shield we were having a Gala Day, I was going to the bowls and there was more than one bowler. “A competition, a competition to be the Gala Day Champion Indoor Bowler” That was it. I instantly recognised this as the idea to run with and how I ran, like Tom McKean at the Olympics. Everything thing was there, the design, the reason everything, now all that was left was to make it. The design was done pretty much on that day, no messing. I used the Lumsden motto round the edge ‘Love Endures Delay’, my family lion on one corner and the lion rampant in the other. The other two corners I put the design of my grandfathers bowls and then in the centre was the jack. Job done. The actual making of the shield was an experience I will never forget. First making it out of wax and carving out all the lettering for the motto then the circles to replicate my Granda’s bowls. Once that was done I made the two lions out of play dough then added some fine detail on to them. The mould was ready for the sand cast process. This consisted of mix two types of sand with a resin and a hardener then stomping and compacting the sand around the mould, which was enclosed within a wooden frame. This was done in two parts, back and front. Once finished the two half’s would come together to make a negative of the shield. After some tiding up and a few more preparations I was ready to pour the aluminium. The actual pour was like nothing else I have ever experienced before, if you ever get the chance the do it, please do. I felt like I was pouring the essence of bowling into to a hand made shield, I felt like a bowling god giving the gift of protection, I felt great and I owe a lot of it to Eden and Kev, thank you guys, I mean it, cheers. All that was left to do now was paint the shield and organise a tournament. The painting was fine, no problems at all, cause that’s what I do. As for the organisation of the tournament I needed help. I had never done anything like this before and I did not know were to start, well I knew I had to start at the Lumsden Indoor Bowling Club that was obvious, but would they be up for it? The answer…an overwhelming YES!

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