Sandinyoureye create amazing sand sculptures around the coast, headed by Jamie Wardley and his talented team.
What inspired you to start creating sand sculptures?
It was a combination of my own desire to create, other peoples confidence in my abilities that after time established my own self confidence, an attitude to take opportunities and not be afraid of failure, as failure is just an element of learning.
What was your first sculpture of, and where did you do it?
I was on holiday in a town called Trondheim in Norway and saw a chap lying in the dirt. Out of curiosity I came back to see what he was up to and saw that he was actually making a sculpture out of the sand. I said ‘Hello’ and after some time chatting he offered to let me have a go; his name was Daneel Foyer. I made some sort of beaver rat creature followed by a few faces which I didn’t feel were that good, but Daneel saw potential and gave me the confidence to pursue it by practicing in his studio in Oslo.
Can anyone create sand sculptures, or do you need any special skills?
Anyone can make sand sculptures and we do workshops for varying skills. It’s great fun for a day but also a fantastic medium to teach practical sculpting skills to people who really want to know how to make sculptures. It is much faster to carve and manipulate than other mediums to a level where you can make giant sculptures one after the other. At this pace it is easier to learn.
For those heading to the beach, can you give 3 top tips for building a successful sand castle.
Always use wet sand, you cannot sculpt with dry sand. The easiest way is to dig a hole just below the high tide mark and shovel the sand into a mound. The hole that you are creating will then fill with water as you hit the water table and you can use this to wet your sand. The easiest way to wet the sand is to make the mount resemble a volcano that has a flat top with a rim. When you pour the water over the pile it will then go through the sand rather than down the sides. During this compact the sand by patting it with your hands.
Start your sculpture from top down so that you do not spill the sand onto work that is already finished?
Make your towers by making mud pies one on top of the other. Do this by having very wet sand in a bucket, then lift a pile in place and pat it gently so that all the corns of sand move into place and harden. When you have an ample mound of sand then carve away to make your tower.
You have completed a number of high profile projects, most recently for ‘The One Show’ What would be your ideal commission?
Commissions that challenge us and have an element of collaboration where we are developing new ideas. These are the richest commissions as they enable us to develop ourselves and move forward.
What’s Next for the team? Do you have any other beach projects lined up?
We are currently working with Aardman animation where we are animating our sand drawings and in fact making the largest animation in the world. In the autumn we will hopefully be making a large image that will be created by the use of moorland burning as part of a conservation campaign.
Visit Sand Sulpture for more information.
