Well this is all very exciting… my first blog!
For this blog I just really want to say hi and introduce myself and my practice of sand art.
There are many forms of sand art which can be anything from children and adults playing in the sand and creating castles and other inspired creations to one of the most incredible acts of sand art where a person actually scatters sand particles on a clear surface and creates a story by producing a number of different pictures with the sand, in a limited time. Take a look at this YouTube video of one of the Ukraine’s Got Talent contestants, Kseniya Simonova. My art practice is creating paintings with sand on canvas that are solid forms.
My background and interest in art and in particular ‘sand art’ comes from when I was a child. I used to love playing in the sand, drawing pictures and pretending that I lived in the beautiful castle that I conjured up in my head and made ‘real’ in the sand. I was a very imaginative and creative child and I have strived throughout my life to regain a little of that innocence and fun back into my work.
My Artist Profile
I am a professional Artist, Photographer & Designer based in Ludlow, Shropshire. I studied Photography, Art History & Media Studies at Ludlow College and later went on to study Foundation Art and took a B.A. Honours degree in Photography at Derby University.
I was incredibly fortunate and had many of the biggest names in British contemporary photography as my tutors & mentors; such as Oded Shimshon, John Gotto and the legendary John Blakemore. I subsequently graduated with a 1st Class B.A. Honours degree.
I began my career working as a photographer for the Shropshire Star newspaper and then started up my own creative business Border Aesthetics.
As well as running my own creative art & photography business I also work as a Design & Media Manager for a publishing company which specialise in motoring related books. I am lucky enough to be able to work closely with some well-known names in British motorsport.
My role as Design & Media Manager has allowed me to stretch my skills and I now run and design many websites in-house and for other businesses.
My clients include advertising, designing agencies, models, publishing companies and magazines.
My fine-art photography has previously been exhibited at Ludlow Assembly Rooms in the ‘Hidden Talents’ exhibition, in various international books, publications and my portfolio of work is available to view on my website www.thesandartist.co.uk and on my Etsy shop
My Sand Painting Practice
I developed my technique of painting with sand over eight years ago. My paintings have all been created in sand as I have found this medium to be a very inspiring and creative process.
Working with the sand and building up the layers allows the image to quietly grow. The painting goes through a metamorphosis as the work is molded and eventually dries.
In different lighting situations or at different times of the day you find that the rough textures and unique sculptural effects can alter the way that we see the figures in the paintings, in doing so the emotions that we once had about the painting can evolve into something quite different.
When I produce my ‘Sand People’ paintings the aim is to give the viewer an opening line from a story and hope that they can fill in the rest.
The subject matter of my paintings is the very basic human form, the intention that the psychological state is captured and expressed in the physical. My aim is to achieve the expression of emotion via the painting. The number of figures in each painting varies but each individual image has been produced to appeal and connect with human feelings.
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