Shades Magazine May issue | Page 14

sand art

Are you on the beach and you don't know what to do? What about a nice sand castle?

Sand castles are typically made by children for fun, but there are also sand-sculpture contests for adults that involve large, complex constructions. The largest sandcastle made in a contest was 18 feet tall; the owner, Ronald Malcnujio, a five-foot-high man, had to use several ladders, each the height of the sandcastle. His sculpture consisted of one ton of sand and 10 liters of water to sculpt. The practice of modeling sand into an artistic form, such as a sand brushing, sand sculpture, sand painting, or sand bottles is called sand art.

The two basic building ingredients, sand and water, are available in abundance on a sandy beach, so most sand play takes place there, or in a sandpit. Tidal beaches generally have sand that limits height and structure because of the shape of the sand grains. Good sculpture sand is somewhat dirty, having silt and clay that helps lock the irregular-shaped sand grains together.