Sand sculpture finished!
One of the great things about working with Sand In Your Eye is that it takes you to different locations and you get to experience new things all the time. Jamie gathered his team and off we went to Thorpe Park! The only time I had seen anything of Thorpe Park, was a particularly funny episode of Channel 4’s Inbetweeners, so I was excited! We would be there for two weeks, so we split into two teams. Jamie and I went for the first week to make the sand sculpture and start the sand sculpture workshops. Andy Moss and Jo Billingsley followed and completed the final week of workshops.
Claire and co hard at work!
We arrived at Thorpe Park and began to compact the sand, Jamie’s nephew and friend came along to help out with that part, a bit too much shoveling for my liking. At the end of the compaction days, we were lucky enough to receive some ride passes, so as the committed artists we are, we took the opportunity to “research” the rollercoasters ahead of the sculpting in the morning.
Claire half way through making the sculpture
We spent the next 4 days sculpting the theme park scene. The weather was on our side most of the sculpting days, its lovely to be able to sculpt in the sunshine. During one of the days, however, it began to rain. Jamie kindly handed me a Sand In Your Eye raincoat, but as I put up the hood, I felt a sharp pain in the top of my head. I screamed and removed the hood as quickly as possible. As Jamie investigated, the front of my head was turning bright red and swelling slightly, it was still very painful. He eventually found the culprit. A bee had stung me and the sting was still in my head. He must have been hiding in my hood. As the professional I am, I carried on sculpting, with little complaint!
Jo working hard with the sand sculpture workshops
With the sculpture completed, it was now time to start the workshops. As the sculpture and workshops were taking place on the purpose built beach, the children loved it! Some of the children were not tall enough to go on lots of the bigger rides, so it was something different for them to do while their older siblings queued for the rides. We made everything from sand castles to dolphins, sea monsters, and turtles. The kids were encouraged to be as creative as possible and with the help of their parents, created some wonderful sculptures. We had a lovely time at Thorpe Park, sand sculpting and roller coasters, what’s not to love?!
