Artists Craft Sculptures At Key West Sand Art Competition
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KEY WEST (CBSMiami/FKNB) -- Sand sculptors took to the sand Thanksgiving weekend for the International Sand Art Competition in Key West.
Six renowned U.S. and international sand sculptors participated in the artistic challenge that began Wednesday on the Atlantic Ocean beach at Key West's Casa Marina Resort.
"Each sculptor received about seven yards of sand in this competition, which equals out to approximately 15,000 pounds of sand, which they get to shovel on the first day," said event founder Marianne van den Broek of Key West's Sand-Isle Professional Sand Sculpting. "That's a lot of shoveling."
Click here to view pictures of the sand sculptures
Competitors included Rusty Croft, host of the television reality show "Sand Masters," veteran Key West sand artist and show participant Chris Guinto and Canadian master Guy-Olivier Deveau. All created their sculptures out of only sand and water, using hand tools such as trowels and brushes but no electric tools, molds or glue.
"A lot of people have a hard time believing that it really is just sand and water, but it really IS just sand and water," said van den Broek. "We reuse the sand all the time, so the fact that we can break down a sculpture and build something new is very green. It's recyclable, and that's part of the charm."
Sculptures ranged from four or five feet tall up to nine or 10 feet tall. Entries included Croft's "Eye Candy," featuring a pinup model posed against a giant eyeball, and Deveau's "Decay/Evolve," an intricately detailed male figure in an elaborate headdress.
"I try to go with something visually striking rather than having a deep meaning," said Deveau of Quebec City. "I really go with the aesthetic, and I usually like a dark or creepy aesthetic."
Deveau said he appreciates sand as a medium despite the resulting work's impermanence.
"If I would make this out of wood or out of bronze, it would take months to realize," he said of his massive figure. "I can realize something like this in only four days, so I guess this is where the difference is and this is why it's so interesting — sand sculpture."
Sand art creations can be viewed through Sunday evening. The competition is a featured event of Art! Key West!, an island-wide cultural celebration taking place through Sunday.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Florida Keys News
Bureau contributed to this report.)
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