2014 Sand Sculpting Festival

This weekend we hit the annual Sand Sculpting Festival at Revere Beach. Usually when we go, it is a scorching day. This year, it was a bit overcast which was good for the temperature, but not so great for taking photos. Incidentally, Johnny Depp and Sienna Miller were just here last week shooting for the Whitey Bulger movie. But no, I didn't see them.

The 15 competing artists had 30 hours to complete their entries. Each person was given about 12 tons of sand in an 18' x 18' area. Keep in mind as we go, for the most part, only the master sculptor was allowed to work on their entry. Maybe next year I'll remember to go down there while they're still sculpting to get pics. But in case you want to see some in progress shots, you can go here.

Every year, there's a large themed piece that also displays the event sponsors. The theme for this year was “Stars and Stripes: A Tribute to our Nation’s Armed Forces” and the folks putting on the event teamed with the Wounded Warrior Project as well.

Over the past few years, they've started putting up more barriers to keep people away from the art. I totally understand this but it also makes it a pain to get what I consider good photos. This will give you an idea just how big the above piece is.



This was one of my favorites and really makes me wish I could have taken a 3D photo because there's a lot to see from any angle.

This one was done by Jobi Bouchard and titled War: My Heart Tells Me Otherwise. It ended up with second place. I just like the sci-fi look of it. It sort of looks like a Transformer. If you view the full size pics on Flickr, you can see the great detail put into the finger joints. Looking through the back, you can see a heart inside (right.)

Here's a view from the side. The way they use detail to give these extra depth always amazes me. Not being a sculptor, I'd never think to take away or use negative space if I had to build something like this.

First place went to Rusty Croft's Double Vision. Probably my fourth favorite.

The People's Choice winner, voted on by the public, was Pavel Myinikov’s Time is Running Out. If you look closely (or click here) you can see the pupil is actually a clock face. And the back of it shows gears.



Food trucks lined the streets offering just about anything you might want. I took a photo of The Bacon Truck because bacon. Plus, the bacon guy on the side looks like he came right out of Adventure Time.

There are also various vendors present too.

There's plenty more sculpture pics that I didn't show off. You can see them all on Flickr.
There are also pics from previous years there too.