Donnie DeWees has been an international professional sand sculptor for the last 35+ years. Seeing the ephemeral nature of sand sculpture as being the antithesis of architecture, he has helped propel the art form from its infancy in the early 1980’s on the beaches of Southern California to the world-wide status that it has obtained now. Sand sculpting has taken Donnie to Kamaishi, Japan and to twenty different U.S. states.
Donnie was one of the founding members of Archisand Professional Sand Sculptors with Greg LeBon starting in 1989 and has been an integral part of Archisand for the last 31 years. http://socalsandcastles.com/
“You borrow sand from the ocean for a short time, you make something wonderful from it, and then you return the sand to mother earth. It’s the most earth-friendly art form there is.”
-Donnie DeWees
There is an old adage borrowed from my old friend and sand sculpting mentor Kent Trollen that says, “IT’S JUST SAND AND WATER” In essence, this is true. We do start with sand either right at the beach or having been delivered from a sand and gravel yard, we add water and compaction to it, and then we begin to sculpt, removing that which isn’t part of the finished sculpture. With the heat of the sun, strong winds and the occasional arrant sea gull…and gravity being our only adversaries, we attempt to create something wonderful.
For a short video on how some of the sand sculptures are created, refer to this link: https://youtu.be/25CRd2UyVto?si=5P5mJYiu1lmWiCy-