Sand Castles – More Than a Plastic Bucket

Sand Castle Magic

Remember the excitement of building sand castles as a child?  You would carefully pack together wet sand and remove sections forming doorways and windows in your fortress.

Or perhaps you were more like me, a tunnel digger burrowing your hand into the sand on one side while your friend dug through on the other. Remember that magical moment when your fingers touched and you would let out a shriek in excitement?

Who would have known those early years of sand sculpting could lead to such extravagant designs!

The US Sand Sculpting Challenge and Dimensional Art expo is one of my favorite events and is held on the Broadway Pier in San Diego each year.

 

Ten international artists from around the world gather to compete for multiple big prizes.

Ten tons of sand are brought in for each participant who then has three days to complete their design.  Spectators come and view the process and meet the artists as they create their unique sculptures.

Artists start with a design then draw it on paper or create miniature clay sculptures to guide them as they are building.

Sand Castle Favorites

Rusty Croft‘s creation is titled “Home is Where the Heart Is“.  It is a sculpture of a giant heart cut in half and in each of the four chambers, it replicates a room in a house.  The detail Rusty puts into his work is amazing!

Fergus Mulvaney from Dublin, Ireland created a design based on how commercialized the world is.  Fergus’ design is a person stamped with a bar code representing the effect it has on humans.

Another artist, John Gowdy, is a true Jersey boy and now resides in Italy where he continues sculpting in various media. He designed an image of the Sand Man after a famous song.  You can almost hear the music playing!

So the next time you feel like planning a day at the beach, Google “sand castle tournaments” and find one near you. They are held all over the world at various times of the year. Or you can allow yourself to be that kid again and go build your own masterpiece! Make sure you bring your camera!