Space. The final frontier. What better theme to choose for a Sand Nativity. Well, that's just what we did for the 2014 sand nativity in La Pineda, Catalonia. Why? Because we could. I have mention in a previous post that each year in this 18 year annual project we decide on a theme to challenge ourselves and our the audience. There are so many sand nativities littered around the Mediterranean it is nice to be involved with one that gives some artistic freedom and gets people talking.
The town hall that pays for the event is always happy because it gets great Tv exposure and creates a discussion in the public about what the hell it is all about.
I wanted to share this now because 1. Christmas isn't really over yet 2. My wife has recently joined Steemit and 3. if your family is as out of this world as mine I thought it might be appreciated.
Floating
My job was to make the three central characters that year and as Clodagh was pregnant with our son it was an honor. As a father to be, my mind was racing with all the excitement and fears as you can imagine. It was like we were floating into the great unknown tethered together on this great adventure.
I wanted Mary and Joseph and Jesus to appear as though they were floating, something which sand doesn't really lend itself to. There was some engineering work involved in making sure the weight of the sand would be supported while trying to make the composition as weightless as possible.
With sand sculpture it is important to not have too much of an overhang as water can gather in these areas, make them softer and they will then drop off. Gravity can be a bitch in that way.
Having a backdrop like the rings of Saturn helped to give the piece support and add another element to the composition. I probably could have gotten away with a smaller planet under Joseph but at that point of the proceedings I didn't want to take any undue risk with the work I did above. The figures were life sized but in sand terms that is a couple of tonnes.
At a later date I will do a bigger post on all the other elements in the crib. For now I just wanted to show my piece and again welcome my family to the Steemit family.
Ps
What a great start to the year with the amazing growth in Steem price. Clodagh is so excited to be getting involved just as this madness is happening. You can see her introduction post by clicking below. I also include some of my recent additions.
Clodagh Downings introduction post
Tools of the trade- Ice/ snow sculpture
Biggles - sand sculpture
Falling asleep - sand sculpture
I hope you'll join me again soon.
@ammonite