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| Weymouth Harbour, Weymouth, March 2014 |
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| Weymouth, March 2014 |
Capturing stories whilst their created
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| Sandworld, Weymouth, March 2014 |
Weymouth Sand Festival has become increasingly popular since in the short time that it has been running, and this year opens its doors once again but with a new and exciting theme of ''Literally Sand''
I was lucky enough to spend Monday photographing the artists at work, with opening night just under a week away the pieces were coming together beautifully and no longer resembled the huge mountains of sand they were made from. Upon walking into Sand World the enormity of what Co-owner Mark Anderson and David Hicks had put together hit me , these beautifully carved sculptures stood over 7ft tall and yet every aspect of them seemed to have been thought about and no detail was left untouched.
Stood in front of a beautiful Shakespearean montage mumbling away were the talented creators of these beautiful pieces, however just like any artist they seemed unhappy about elements of their work and were desperately trying to improve it, in this case reverting back to primal instincts about whether or not the statues bum was curvy enough. Joking aside the sculptors each returned to their mountain of sand and carried on digging and carving away.
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| Irish born Daniel Doyle carves part of the Lewis Carrol's 'White Rabbit'', Sand World, Weymouth, March 2014 |
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| A close up at the level of detail Doyle has carved in, Sand World, Weymouth, March 2014 |
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| Doyle's ''Alice in Wonderland'', Sand World, Weymouth, March 2014 |
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Although the artist are not giving total freedom about their concept they are allowed to design their piece anyway they want, allowing each artists particular skills and characters to shine through.
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| American John Gowdy takes a break from working on his piece from ''Moby Dick'', Sand World, Weymouth, March 2014 |
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| Characters from 'Moby Dick' emerge from the waves, Sand World Weymouth, March 201 |
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| A scene from 'Moby Dick' created by Gowdy, Sand World ' |
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Ten years a tourist: As you can imagine there isn't really that many jobs available for a Sand Sculptor, meaning that these artist spend the life on the road travelling between festivals and showcases, exposing their craft to the world.
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| ''Ten years a tourist'' Radovan Zivny working on part of his vision for ''Lord of the Rings'', Sand World, Weymouth, March 2014 ---------------------------------------------------------------- One thing in particular that I noticed was that no artist seemed to use the same tool, perhaps because they styles and briefs were so different or maybe just because they each had different preferences when it came to tools. You may wonder what a Sand Sculptor uses to carve their work well aside from the obvious shovel or spade, the artists workbenches were crammed with really anything (even kitchen utensils) if anything could give a certain affect it was there. |
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| The streets of London come alive In Baldrick's potrayl of Sherlock Holmes, Sand World Weymouth, March 2014 |
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British Baldrick carving ''Sherlock Holmes'' accomplice Watsons face, Sand World, Weymouth, March 2014
The whole Holmes scene, Sand World Weymouth, March 2014
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With many of the artists returning year after year although its perhaps not the most social of crafts, as each artist is most commonly left alone to work on their piece, the respect for one and other is clear and the artists gathered to both relax together and to help critique and improve each others pieces.
Michaela Ciapinni working on Charles Darwins ' Evolution of Man'', Sand World Weymouth, March 2014
The metamorphsis of man , Sand World, Weymouth, March 201
Michaela's other project from 'Frankenstein'', Sand World Weymouth, March 2014
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Weymouth's sand is supposed to be the best in the world for sand sculpting and survives the elements only being held together by itself and the occasional spray of water, most commonly used for texture.
Sleva working on his portrayl of Michael Morpurgo's ''War Horse'', Sand World Weymouth, March 2014
Characters from Sleva's ''War Horse'' concept, Sand World Weymouth, March 2014
Close up of Albert and Joey, Sand World Weymouth, March 2014
Sandbags and Tank from ''Warhorse'', Sand World Weymouth, March 201
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Characters from 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'', Sand World Weymouth, March 2014
The impressiveness of these sculptures is something even my photos can not truly describe, there is something very magical about standing in front of a 7ft tool replicur ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT ELLIE HETEBRIJ |
