INPERSON
Head
A
in the
Sand
Brian
Convery
Brian Convery uses his
skill and imagination to create
spectacular sand sculptures on the beach.
By W.B. Fresa
14 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Moon Township
lmost from the onset of any
school year, students and
teachers look forward to
summer vacation and the
opportunity to break from
the monotony of studying and grading
papers. For Brian Convery, Moon Township
resident and Shaler Area School District
occupational therapist, summer vacation
includes long days on the beach with his feet
in the sand and shovel in hand.
For the past 10 years, on different beaches
in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Convery has
been found building unique and interesting
sand sculptures while vacationers watch in
amazement.
“Depending on the size of the sculpture,
it can take between four and five hours to
complete one piece,” he says. “That allows
a lot of passers-by to stop and ask plenty of
questions about what I’m building and how
they can do it, too. And they like to see how
it all comes together.”
Convery learned how to build sand
sculptures from an artist/friend in
Massachusetts who works as a sculptor. He
and his wife lived there for 17 years while
raising their children before returning to
the Pittsburgh area three years ago. After
educating himself on the fundamentals
of sand and how it can be used to build
everything from castles to sea creatures, he
worked to perfect his skills.
“I wasn’t very good at first,” he notes. “But
over time, and with a lot of patience and
practice, I’ve gotten much better.”
According to Convery, fine-tuning the art
of sand sculpting is not unlike the skills he
teaches to students in the Shaler Area School
District for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
As the district’s school-based occupational
therapist, it is his job to help children focus
on the motor skills related to their needs.
Specifically, he and his staff of occupational
therapy assistants help students improve
their fine-motor skills, which include things
like handwriting and using scissors.
“It takes a lot of time for some students,
especially if they have a disability, to
learn tasks many may pick up very easily,”
Convery says. “I’ve found the patience
I need to have with the students, as well
as thinking about how best to help them
perfect their capabilities, has also helped in
my own sand sculpture endeavors.”
Sand sculpting, he explains, is a
combination of the right sand-to-water ratio
and design details. At the same time, it’s also
a form of art that allows him to relax and be
creative.