In 2009 Nora and I flew down for a long weekend in May. This was the first year I recall seeing a sand sculpture at the Flower and Garden Festival. My recall is that the sculpture was to promote the Disney Nature series. In 2008 Disney had founded a new division to work on nature documentaries – reviving a craft that Walt actively practiced n the 1950’s. In 2009 the sculpture focused on “Earth” – the first release from this new division. Last year (2010) we were here longer and I noticed the sculpture changed… The focus in 2010 was “Seas” – the movie/documentary to be released that summer. This year I actually saw some of the work being done for the “African Cats” to be released this year.
The sculpture was very pretty and I wondered how they kept it looking so good. We are not big beach people thus we have never seen a sand castle contest. I think we both built a couple of sand castles as real small kids but that is the extent of my knowledge. When I saw the sculptors using so many tools and then using a setting solution on the sand I was amazed. The work is impressive and the techniques used must be learned over many years. I cannot imagine how long these sculptors “practice” to get so good.
The setting solution seems to work like hair spray. By applying it to sections as they carve it keeps the wind from blowing away their work. As best I could tell it also protected the sculpture from light rain. However one night we had a big storm and I happened to be in Epcot the next day. The sculpture was mostly collapsed due to the storm. I imagine working in such a delicate medium you get accustomed to your work being destroyed… Undaunted, the sculptors soon rebuilt with slight variations.
If you haven’t noticed these sand sculptures when visiting the Flower and Garden Festival – take time to seek them out. I certainly hope that they continue to be a part of the event as they are amazing “temporary” works of art. Enjoy a few photos below…
nick
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