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Many of us have fond memories of building sand castles at the beach when we were children; overturning buckets of sand to create towers, digging out moats, and sticking seashells into the damp castle walls. Even though we weren’t consciously aware of it at the time, building sandcastles was a fun, hands-on way to express our creativity and let our imaginations run wild.
Building sand castles is not just for kids anymore! In the 1970s, the art of “sand sculpting” was born on the beaches of California, pioneered by visionaries who took the concept of sand castles several steps further by creating elaborate, detailed, breathtaking monuments out of sand. Animals, architecture and pop culture icons are common subjects for sand sculpture art, although the sky’s the limit. Sand sculptors have depicted everything from African wildlife to Greek gods and goddesses to scaled versions of the Taj Mahal.
Creating complex sand sculptures requires both technical skill and knowledge. In order to stay in place properly, the sand must be a certain consistency and contain a certain degree of moisture. Once the foundation is ready, it takes talent, time and energy to sculpt 3-D images into the sand without the sand falling to pieces. It’s no wonder that the best sand sculptors are actually professionals who get paid to create these magnificent works of art using all-natural materials.
Sand sculptures are a popular attraction on some of the world’s best beaches, from Canada to Florida to Australia. Next time you’re at the beach, why not see what you can create out of sand!
Fabulous Image and a most interesting read. I never progressed beyond making a large blob!
John
HI John,
I like your photos on your blog site as well! Check out John’s site at http://johntharding.wordpress.com/.
Thanks!
That sand sculpture is AMAZING. Love this post!
Hi Tasha,
I like your blog on The Truth of Beaches! Please check out Tasha’s Blog at http://uniqueandidyllic.wordpress.com/. Thanks for sharing!
Here’s a cute blog I thought you might like to check out from Astra Wally: http://astrawally.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/fit-for-a-king/. Enjoy!
Harrison Lake, BC, Canada has an excellent Sand Castle Competition. I’ll have to find the pictures I took there and post them. The Sand artists created amazing sculptures!
Nice Sand sculpture! Thanks for sharing with us.
We make sandcastles at the beach every 3rd week of July but have rules: we can make them only with our hands (drip-sand castles). We make them so big and beautiful with arches and towers and minarets that people stop and take pictures of us and them. Little children wander in and thru’. It is sometimes embarrassing; but we like making people wonder and think – and we teach the other little children how to work with their hands, making these things – just as “I” (o’tay, I’m schizoid) – my little boy inside was taught by a Meditarrain girl on the beach in Spain one day. (loverly memory; couldn’t speak a word between us, but she showed me what to do.)
Love these kinds of work, tho’. But not in competition: each is great in its own way IMO/IOO (in our opinions)
This is amazing.. I’m speechless that this is actually sand.
Hi Judy,
I can’t believe myself how beautiful these art works are!
These are such beautiful works of art! Thanks so much for sharing!