Extreme Sand Sculpting! Wow!

You saw that perfect sandcastle in your dream - it was reaching to heavens, rising from the surf's mist. It was magnificent and yet so eminently perishable. Welcome the Sultans (and wizards) of sand art to make all that a reality - and more, with incredible detail, creativity and imagination.

(Melbourne, Australia - love these skyscrapers in the background - perhaps also "sand castles" of some sort...)

There are many fantastic sand art showcases / competitions around the world: held in China, Spain, Brazil, Canada (the ultimate "Tournament of Champions" in Harrison Hot Springs, British Colombia), Florida, Oregon, Texas, Virginia... featuring such undisputed masters like Amazin Walter, Rich Varano (The Sultan of Sand), William Lloyd, Carl Jarra and Suzzane Altamare compete alongside artists from all over the world.

Perhaps the most sophisticated fairy tale sculpture in recent memory

Too bad they are made out of sand, and so will be impossible to preserve, other than in pictures. The traditional fantasy themes - sand castles, dragons, maidens and other fairy tale details - are brought to life so lovingly and with such abundance of detail that it simply transcends the genre:

(images credit: Amazin Walter)

This is how it's done... slowly and with feeling (imagine sculpting every single scale on that dragon) -

William Lloyd works on the baby dragon

"The Princess Power" by Rich Varano:

(images credit: Amazin Walter)

Get eaten up by the dragon:

Psychedelic Swirls:

(sculpture by Carl Jara and Suzzane Altamare, image credit: Amazin Walter)

Time Mirror: on the left is "looking into the past", on the right - "looking into the future"-

A life of the mundane, rendered in sand

Bedroom Scene (a little abrasive relationship... ok, I will stop my puns here)

Get yourself a couch to sleep on in the worst case -

A perfect family to inhabit all this sand real estate -

(image credit: sandwizard)

Sand people need to go to the sand outhouses to do their sand business... "Occupied!" -

(image credit: Amazin Walter)

I hope this sand figure is not nude:

Nostalgia for winter... Blasphemy! -

If he tries to show accurate time, he'll be here sculpting all night:

Pushing the borders into surrealism

"The Church, The Steeple and all the People" by John Gowdy and Michael Velling:

(images credit: Amazin Walter)

This is perhaps a commentary on the urban sprawl:

(image credit: Amazin Walter)

The weirdness never ends... -

The images above below are from the sand art shows in Japan, and in Durham, NC, USA.

Sand sculptures in Lommel, Belgium:

(image credit: Tine Verheyden)

Something gruesome happened here:

(image credit: Amazin Walter)

"The End of the Knight" tells an equally sad story:

(image credit: Amazin Walter)

Horror is a common theme (work of Dan Doubleday and Meredith Corson) -

(image credit: Dan Doubleday and Meredith Corson)

(image credit: Tine Verheyden)

The Squids! The Squids! Give us the squids -

(image credit: wired)

"The Arms Race" -

(images credit: rense.com)

"Goaaaal!" by Gianni Schimarini - via:

Trust Chinese to make creepy sand sculptures for the sake of propaganda (more info) -

But this one is much better:

(sculpture by Edith Van de Watering "Nederland")

Even if you don't possess sculpting skills you can still impress the beach crowd. There is definitely "more than meets the eye" here -

Who's worshiping what? -

Well, of course, the problem with even the mightiest of sand sculptures... there are going to be blown in the wind... smothered by waves... no trace will be left of them...

"The dust you are, to dust you will return!" -