the return of sand sculpture!

That's right.  You thought the Sand Sculpture Class was dead didn't you?  Well, I did.  Some administrative changes to the way travel-related courses are scheduled made our cool little Sand Sculpture Class unaffordable during summer.  The last one was May 2021 and I guess that was a good one to end on.  But then...

I have been more actively scheduling workshops and artist-in-residence sessions with K-12 schools and my friend Kevin was working with me on ideas to bring me to Summerville to work with his kids.  As we traded emails, out of nowhere he emailed "What if we did sand sculptures?!" and it was the best idea I've heard in months.  The wheels turned, Kevin worked out all the details and a day after graduation I found myself driving towards the coast.

Kevin's literal neighbors just happen to be Monica and Eric of The Chick Inn on Main in Summerville, SC.  Remember when they commissioned me to do a big drawing for them last year?  It's a good story and you need to hear Monica tell it.  So plan your next trip to Summerville and book your stay with The Chick Inn on Main.  You will not regret it!  I'm happy to provide more information on that along with some photos if you're interested.  Monica is a runner and as we planned our visit, we had to get a run in together.  That's Monica and Katherine after our early morning 5K.  What was Katherine doing there?  Good question...

Hannah, pictured here with her new chicken friend, is a veteran of the Sand Sculpture class.  In fact, she was on the last one in 2021 along with Kennedy, Amber, Ashley and several others.  When Hannah heard I was going to do a one-day Sand Sculpture class with high school students, she, Ashley and Katherine quickly planned a girl's trip to coincide with the class.  We were also lucky that my former student Tien's solo exhibit at Public Works Art Center was happening on the night before the class so we all got to go to her reception as well.  Serendipity.  By the way, that's a real chicken.  The Chick Inn on Main has a lot of real chickens and Hannah wanted to hold one.

After our run and after a really good breakfast and chicken photo, we all drove out to Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island, just south of Charleston.

When the students arrived, I gave an introduction and a few instructions to get started.

It felt so good to be back in the sand.  The shovels and buckets were lonely in my basement.

And these students got to work immediately.

That's Kevin Morrissey holding the jellyfish.  He's an amazing superhero of a teacher and these students probably have no idea how lucky they are to have him.  Kevin and I went to the same college, drive the same car and share the same barber.

Katherine and Ashley working hard on the cat/mermaid sculpture.  Hannah was carrying water.

The students were really doing great.  They were prepared with good ideas and they worked at a reasonable scale for the time we had.  

As usual, I wasn't as prepared with an idea of what I was going to make.  I piled up sand as part of the introduction and opted for a skull to show a few of the different approaches.  After moving a bunch of sand, I decided to carve "Fort Art" and use it as a photo opp for the students.  Fort Art is the art slogan for Fort Dorchester High.

Speaking of moving sand, after a few minutes of working with our shovels, the park guy came out and told us that there was a rule against using metal shovels on the beach.  He was kind enough to go buy us a box of heavy duty plastic shovels.  

After the shovels and packing, it was time to do details.

Kevin brought a lot of students and Stephanie brought a few of her photo students.  The added bonus was that Mini Me got to come along with her students too.  This is Elizabeth Estes, formerly the Queen of Sculpture (long may she reign).  Elizabeth is my fictional long lost daughter and was my sculpture worker for a few years.  It was really cool to see her interacting with her students and being awesome.  

After about 3 hours, students started finishing up.  This was a giant Toothless dragon.

Abigail lives in Summerville and she also came out to join the girl's trip.  The four of them made a great example sculpture.

This one was a turtle.

This was the Mount Rushmore of Marvel.

This was a manta ray strong enough to hold a person on its back.  They all did a really good job.  It was a very successful day.

Everyone was bummed that we had to flatten out the sand before we left, but that faded quickly when they realized they got to destroy the sculptures in fun ways.  Stephanie took most of these photos and this one really captures the joy well.

Kevin and Abigail both suggested the Blackbird Market for a late lunch.  The bus went to get ice cream and we stopped to eat before heading back upstate.  

For me this was, of course, a lot of fun, but it was also a successful experiment.  Now I know that it is possible to do a one-day Sand Sculpture class with high school students when the high school is within an hour of the beach.  I will definitely be adding this to my list of offerings for workshops and classes.  

And don't forget we do beach weddings too!  Hit me up!