Artists Quarter

Sandcastles for many people, are associated with children playing on the beach

Picture, Lisa A Devlin

but in recent year sculpting in sand has become a serious artistic discipline

Take a look at the 'Sons of the beach' portal site to see some astounding photographs of sand sculpture produced by artists around the world.
If that inspires you to try it out for yourself, you can get some technique tips from the Internet Centre for Sand.

Perhaps the most important point for beginners is to note that sand sculpture is all about carving, not modelling and the secret of success lies in the care with which the material for carving is prepared. In order to get a firm, cohesive block of sand, suitable for carving, it is necessary to begin with a very wet slurry of sand and water because it is a thin film of water around the particles of sand which bind them together when the excess water in the mixture drains away. Most experienced sand sculptors also seem to agree that it is important to compact the sand in layers, so that a really dense block of sand is produced and the final carved form will be strong. The preferred method is to use some form of mold to contain the block, as succesive layers of wet sand are compacted.

Sandscapes is one of the professional groups responsible for taking this art form to new heights, claiming 12 World Sand Sculpture Championship Titles.
It is also worth checking out the work of the Sand Sculpture Company



There are now many inspirational artists working in this medium, Steve Machell from Byron Bay, Australia has been combining candlelight with his sculptures to create some magical effects; it will be interesting to see how the art form develops and the great thing is that it is an art form accessible to anyone with access to sand and water.

There is an annual sand sculpture festival at Zeebrugge, Belgium; this year it is running from the 16 July to the 5 September 2004 with a Hollywood theme.