Left to themselves, sand grains repel each other. Water runs downhill without pausing, taking its shape from what contains it. At first look, these seem to be improbable building materials. When they are mixed, the story changes: sand provides structure for water, and water embraces the grains, bridging gaps between them, holding them together. The result is an easily carved combination that has good compressive strength. In operational terms, packed wet sand is a sensitive sculpture medium. You can run your hand over the surface of your packed sand, removing a layer one grain thick, gradually rubbing it to the shape you want. You can carve deeply with little pressure. You can carve the material with your fingers, reaching inside and around corners to make hollows. Unlike soft materials like snow or papier mache, there's no clumping or bumps, unless you want them. Unlike stone, you don't need heavy tools. Plastic media, such as clay, have minds of their own in that they take on lumps and surface textures that are hard to change. They're also floppy. Sand stays where you put it and takes the surface you put on. Sand ranges from flour fineness to near pebbles, pure one color to polychrome, white to black. Some grains are angular, some are rounded. The grains' sizes can be uniform or variegated. All of it will make piles. Fine sand makes piles that are better for carving: they take more detail and the corners stay on. If the grains are angular, they stay even better, and added clay helps even more. Ocean beaches tend to be monocultures, while lake beaches have a range of grain sizes from silt on up. Sand's major failing is a nearly complete absence of tensile strength. Clay incorporated in the mix can alleviate this; still, as soon as you start making undercuts, you are asking for trouble. Only experience can teach you how far you can push. What you can do varies greatly with minor changes in the sand you use. Finding good sand takes some effort. Look in places where it will tend to collect, such as immediately upwind or upstream of a groin or pier. If the ocean has currents, they will slow at breakwaters and storm drains, allowing finer sand to drop out of suspension. Look for beaches with a gradual slope. Feel the sand and get it wet. Squeeze a handful of wet sand and see how well it sticks to itself and takes the shape of your hand. Sometimes the fine sand will be in a thin layer over coarser sand, or it will be in layers in between coarser layers. It can even be underneath coarse material. Keep looking, whether you're on a lake or an ocean. Finally, when you've found your sand, take some time to find out what the tides are doing. Tides under a new or full moon rise more quickly than they do at other times in the moon's 29-day cycle, and they are higher. Better sand is usually available below the high tide line, but your timing has to be good to build there. The alternative is to carry the sand to a building site above the high tide. Tide charts or booklets are available at surf shops, fishing stores or boat shops. Lifeguards can tell you what the tides are for that day, and what the pattern should be for the next couple of days. Be aware, in addition, that big surf drives water farther up the beach. A high tide with small surf will not reach as far as a lower tide with big surf. No matter what you build, or what kind of sand you use, you can be certain that your work will never gather dust on someone's nicknack shelf. Sand lives. You have that very rare opportunity: complete freedom. You control all aspects of the process. I cherish this freedom. FAQ | How I Do It | Doing It Yourself | About Tools | About Competition Library Human Touch Museum

abtsand.htm 1999 February 14