South Korea | 23.11.13

Safety

My expensive face mask and safety goggles I laid aside as they proved to be too hot to wear in the warm conditions; my mask became useless as my goggles would steamed up and no matter what I did I could not see clearly. I decided to use the same light weight 3M paper masks and safety glasses in ordinary looking glasses frame as the artisans used and had no more problems. I wore two baseball caps one with the peak turned back to front to protect my neck from the sun.

Gel padded gloves damp down vibrations

Paper mask proved comfortable and effective

Apron keeps you dry

Caps with peaks facing front and back

I also decided to use the gum boots that were supplied instead of my leather steel capped work boots. Luckily nothing heavy fell on my foot and my work boots are still intact. Work clothes I had used in Australia proved to be too hot and fell apart at the zips, which in one way, was a great relief.

Waterproof aprons were supplied and worn by most of the sculptors. On one particularly hot day a guy wore only his underpants and apron which was a sight for the visitors to the Stone Factory on that day.

One day it rained so all the artists were bundled onto a luxury bus, (a coffee dispensing machine at the front of the bus), and taken on a long trip to a famous ancient Buddhist Temple complex. We had a great time and found the buildings and the landscape inspiring in its beauty. (Of course we had to make up for the day lost by working on Sunday).