Sandpainting
Encyclopedia
Drypainting is practiced by Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
in the Southwestern United States, by Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an monks, by Indians, by Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
, and by Latin Americans on certain Christian holy days.
Native American sandpainting
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
), the Medicine Man
Medicine man
"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...
(or Hatałii) paints loosely upon the ground of a hogan
Hogan
A hogan is the primary traditional home of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house...
, where the ceremony takes place, or on a buckskin
Buckskin (leather)
Buckskin is the soft, pliable, porous preserved hide of an animal, usually deer, moose or elk or even cowhide tanned to order, but potentially any animal's hide,. Modern leather labeled "buckskin" may be made of sheepskin tanned with modern chromate tanning chemicals and dyed to resemble real...
or cloth tarpaulin, by letting the colored sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
s flow through his fingers with control and skill. There are 600 to 1000 different traditional designs for sandpaintings which are known to the Navajo. They do not view the paintings as static objects, but as spiritual, living beings to be treated with great respect. More than 30 different sandpaintings may be associated with one ceremony.
The colors for the painting are usually made with naturally colored sand, crushed gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
(white), yellow ochre
Ochre
Ochre is the term for both a golden-yellow or light yellow brown color and for a form of earth pigment which produces the color. The pigment can also be used to create a reddish tint known as "red ochre". The more rarely used terms "purple ochre" and "brown ochre" also exist for variant hues...
, red sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
, and a mixture of charcoal and gypsum (blue). Brown can be made by mixing red and black; red and white make pink. Other coloring agents include corn meal, flower pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
, or powdered roots and bark.
The paintings are for healing
Healing
Physiological healing is the restoration of damaged living tissue, organs and biological system to normal function. It is the process by which the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area....
purposes only. Many of them contain images of Yeibicheii (the Holy People). While creating the painting, the medicine man will chant
Chant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
, asking the yeibicheii to come into the painting and help heal the patient.
When the medicine man finishes painting, he checks its accuracy. The order and symmetry
Symmetry
Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection...
of the painting symbolize the harmony which a patient wishes to reestablish in his or her life. The accuracy of a sandpainting is believed to determine its efficacy as a sacred tool. The patient will be asked to sit on the sandpainting as the medicine man proceeds with the healing chant. The sandpainting acts as a portal to attract the spirits and allow them to come and go. Sitting on the sandpainting helps the patient to absorb spiritual power, while in turn the Holy People will absorb the illness and take it away. Afterward, when the sandpainting has done its duty, it is considered to be toxic, since it has absorbed the illness. For this reason, the painting is destroyed. Because of the sacred nature of the ceremonies, the sandpaintings are begun, finished, used, and destroyed within a 12-hour period.
Some Navajo laws and taboos relate to the sandpaintings, and protect their holiness:
- Women are not supposed to sing the chants associated with the yeibicheii. This is both because the ceremony has a possibility of injuring an unborn child, and because of a taboo preventing menstruating women from attending. (Many cultures considered menstruation and presence of blood to be powerful spiritual events that had to be restrained, as they represented life forces.) Post-menopausal women are more likely to be chanters or diagnosticians.
- One is not supposed to pretend to be a medicine man creating a sandpainting, or mock the medicine man in any way by mimicking him. Both the medicine man and the yeibicheii may punish you.
- Authentic sandpaintings are rarely photographed, so as to not disrupt the flow of the ceremony. For many reasons, medicine men will seldom allow outsiders inside a sacred ceremony. Because so many outsiders are curious about sandpainting, some medicine men may create pieces for exhibition purposes only, using reversed colors and variations. To create an authentic sandpainting solely for viewing would be a profane act. The sandpaintings for sale in shops and on the Internet are commercially produced and contain purposeful errors, as the real sandpaintings are considered sacred.
- The earliest credited instance of traditional Navajo sandpaintings (being rendered in colored sands as opposed to tapestry or other media) being created in a permanent form for commercial sale, have been traced to the period between 1945 and 1955. The main credit is generally given to a Navajo Hatałii named Fred Stevens, Jr. (Grey Squirrel), who developed the primary method of "permatizing" for commercial sandpaintings that is still in use today.
Indigenous Australian sandpainting
Indigenous Australian art has a history which covers more than 30,000 years, and a wide range of native traditions and styles. These have been studied in recent decades and their complexity has gained increased international recognition. Aboriginal Art covers a wide variety of media, including sandpainting, painting on leaves, wood carving, rock carving, sculpture, and ceremonial clothing, as well as artistic embellishments found on weaponry and also tools. Art is one of the key rituals of Aboriginal culture. It was and still is, used to mark territory, record history, and tell stories about "The DreamingDreaming (spirituality)
The Dreaming is a common term within the animist creation narrative of indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation and for what may be understood as the "timeless time" of formative creation and perpetual creating....
".
Tibetan sandpainting
Tibetan BuddhistTibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
sand paintings usually composed mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
s. In Tibetan, it is called dul-tson-kyil-khor (mandala of colored powders).
The sand is carefully placed on a large, flat table. The construction process takes several days, and the mandala is destroyed shortly after its completion. This is done as a teaching tool and metaphor for the "impermanence" (Pali: anicca) of all contingent and compounded phenomena (Sanskrit: Pratītya-samutpāda
Pratitya-samutpada
Dependent origination or dependent arising is a cardinal doctrine of Buddhism, and arguably the only thing that holds every Buddhist teaching together from Theravada to Dzogchen to the extinct schools. As a concept and a doctrine it has a general and a specific application, both being integral to...
).
The mandala sand-painting process begins with an opening ceremony, during which the lama
Lama
Lama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...
s, or Tibetan priests, consecrate the site and call forth the forces of goodness. They chant, declare intention, mudra
Mudra
A mudrā is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers...
, asana
Asana
Asana is a body position, typically associated with the practice of Yoga, originally identified as a mastery of sitting still, with the spine as a conduit of biodynamic union...
, pranayama
Pranayama
Pranayama is a Sanskrit word meaning "extension of the prana or breath" or more accurately, "extension of the life force". The word is composed of two Sanskrit words, Prāna, life force, or vital energy, particularly, the breath, and "āyāma", to extend, draw out, restrain, or...
, do visualisations, play music, recite mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
s, etc.
On the first day, the lamas begin by drawing an outline of the mandala to be painted on a wooden platform. The following days see the laying of the colored sands, which is effected by pouring the sand from traditional metal funnels called chak-pur. Each monk holds a chak-pur in one hand, while running a metal rod on its serrated surface; the vibration causes the sands to flow like liquid.
Formed of traditional prescribed iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
that includes geometric shapes and a multitude of ancient spiritual symbols (e.g.: Ashtamangala
Ashtamangala
Ashtamangala or Zhaxi Daggyai are a sacred suite of Eight Auspicious Signs endemic to a number of Dharmic Traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. The symbols or 'symbolic attributes' are yidam and teaching tools...
and divine attributes of yidam
Yidam
In Vajrayana Buddhism, an Ishta-deva or Ishta-devata is a fully enlightened being who is the focus of personal meditation, during a retreat or for life. The term is often translated into English as tutelary deity, meditation deity, or meditational deity...
), seed syllables, mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
, the sand-painted mandala is used as a tool or instrument for innumerable purposes. A primary purpose is to reconsecrate the earth and its inhabitants.
Japanese tray pictures
From the 15th c. in Japan, Buddhist artists in the times of the shoguns practiced the craft of bonsekiBonseki
Bonseki is the ancient Japanese art of creating miniature landscapes on black lacquer trays using white sand, pebbles, and small rocks. Small delicate tools are used in Bonseki such as feathers, small flax brooms, sifters, spoons and wood wedges. The trays are either oval or rectangular, measuring...
by sprinkling dry colored sand and pebbles onto the surface of plain black lacquered trays. They used bird feathers as brushes to form the sandy surface into seascapes and landscapes. These tray pictures were used in religious ceremonies. Japanese esoteric Buddhism was transmitted from East Central Asia after the eighth century, and thus these Japanese Buddhist sandpaintings may share earlier historical roots with the more intricate brightly coloured Buddhist sand mandalas created by Tibetan Buddhist monks.
Table decking
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the royal courts of Europe employed "table deckers", who decorated the side tables at royal banquets having adapted the craft of 'bonseki' from the Japanese. The table deckers sprinkled coloured sands, marble dust, sugars, etc. upon the surface of plain white tablecloths to create unfixed pictures of fruit, flowers, birds and rustic scenery. In between each design spaces were left for fruit bowls and sweetmeat dishes so that the diners could refresh themselves in between the main courses of the feast. These ornate pictures were discarded along with the debris of the meal.As a fine example of the table deckers' craft, Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...
in Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, England possesses an ornate folding screen with three panels, decorated with sand pictures protected by glass. The centre one has five spaces for sweetmeat pyramid dishes while the two side leaves of the screen have three spaces for fruit trays. There are four sand pictures in each corner of the side panels of the screen, featuring 18th-century pastoral scenes, while the remaining areas of the screen are decorated with butterflies, doves, fruit, flowers, etc. The screen would be laid upon the surface of a side table. It doubled as a serving base for elaborate porcelain dishes and glass trays containing fruits, bonbons and sweetmeats, from which the hosts and their guests could help themselves while socializing or stretching their legs between the multiple courses being served on the main table in the dining hall. This screen may have been the work of the German artisan F. Schweikhardt, who specialised in still-life studies in the style of the Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
Jan van Huysum
Jan van Huysum
Jan van Huysum, also spelled Huijsum, was a Dutch painter.-Biography:He was the brother of Jacob van Huysum, the son of the flower painter Justus van Huysum, and the grandson of Jan van Huysum I, who is said to have been expeditious in decorating doorways, screens and vases...
.
Georgian sand painting (Marmotinto)
In the 18th and 19th c. when the House of HanoverHouse of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
ruled in England, "table decking" was introduced to the court at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
by sand artists from Germany. The most accomplished were George Haas, Benjamin Zobel and F. Schweikhardt. They created fixed sand paintings (marmotinto in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
) which were highly prized for acquisition by many of the English aristocracy, including the King's brother, the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
, who commissioned a number of works by Zobel.
Zobel depicted "pigs in the manner of Morland"; "Nelson", the favourite dog of the Duke of York; "Tiger after George Stubbs", and an impressive "Vulture and snake."
Although many of Zobel's works have survived, none of those by Haas has. Observers considered his work superior to that of Zobel. This may reflect the differing techniques used by each artist. A diarist observed Zobel's coating the surface of the baseboard with a mixture of gum arabic
Gum arabic
220px|thumb|right|Acacia gumGum arabic, also known as acacia gum, chaar gund, char goond, or meska, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree; Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal...
and white lead
White lead
White lead is the chemical compound 2·Pb2. It was formerly used as an ingredient for lead paint and a cosmetic called Venetian Ceruse, because its opaque quality made it a good pigment. However, it tended to cause lead poisoning, and its use has been banned in most countries.White lead has been...
and sprinkling sand upon the sticky surface using a folded paper funnel
Funnel
A funnel is a pipe with a wide, often conical mouth and a narrow stem. It is used to channel liquid or fine-grained substances into containers with a small opening. Without a funnel, spillage would occur....
as a brush. He had to work quickly since the adhesive would dry in a few hours. Several of his surviving pictures have unfinished work on the reverse.
Haas followed more closely the techniques developed in Japan, but mixing dry powdered gum arabic with the sand, sprinkling the mixture through a sieve and using feathers as brushes to create the pictures upon the baseboard, then fixing them by some method which he kept a secret. Unfortunately, due to the damp conditions in many of the stately homes of the day, his pictures failed to last more than a few years. On one occasion Haas was called away while working on an unfixed sand picture. When he returned he found one of Windsor Castles' cats curled up on the picture, damaging it.
Eventually Zobel returned to Memmingen
Memmingen
Memmingen is a town in the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia in Germany. It is the central economic, educational and administrative centre in the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-Württemberg border...
in Bavaria where he continued to successfully pursue his craft. Some of his work is displayed in Memmingen Town Hall. The unfortunate Haas had to give up sand painting - probably due to the ongoing disasters with his pictures. He opened a bakers shop in Windsor instead, though the icing on his cakes may well have been decorated with pictures in coloured sugar instead of sand.
With the passing of these Georgian craftsmen and the disposal of the Duke of York's collection the interest and skills evolved in sand picture work declined. The only Royal personage to take further interest in the craft was the late Queen Mary, consort to George V who bequeathed her Georgian sand paintings to the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, and her collection of Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
sand pictures to Carisbrooke Castle Museum
Carisbrooke Castle
Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke, near Newport, Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial.-Early history:...
on the Isle of Wight.
In the first half of the 20th century Lt.-Colonel Rybot was a keen collector of sand paintings, which were the source material of the articles written on the subject in the arts and crafts magazines of the day. Eventually 37 of his collection of sand paintings were the main feature at an auction held at Sotheby’s New Bond Street gallery on June 15, 1956.
Holiday souvenirs - Victorian sand pictures
Thousands of sites exist where it is possible to collect natural coloured sands for craftwork, with an infinite variety of colours being available around the globe varying with the contents of the mineral charged waters leeching through the sands. But for the tourist the vertical sand cliffs at Alum BayAlum Bay
Alum Bay is a bay near the westernmost point of the Isle of Wight, England, within sight of the Needles. Of geological interest and a tourist attraction, the bay is noted for its multi-coloured sand cliffs.-Geology:...
on the Isle of Wight form the central portion of a visual geological phenomenon (best viewed after a shower of rain) which encapsulates the impressive chalk spires of The Needles
The Needles
The Needles is a row of three distinctive stacks of chalk that rise out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, England, close to Alum Bay. The Needles lighthouse stands at the end of the formation...
and Tennyson Downs. Aspiring sand crafters are now banned from risking their lives climbing the cliffs to collect the 21 coloured sands available in the bay, and to prevent excessive damage to the environment, but the sand kiosks have in the past been there to supply their needs. Unfortunately due to mailing costs the current management are no longer able to supply quantities of Alum Bay sands by mail order.
After her marriage to Prince Albert and having chosen Osborne House
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
near Cowes
Cowes
Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...
to be her new family retreat, Queen Victoria was the prime mover in the gentrification of this former backwater, local artisans benefitted from the influx of wealthy visitors, and a number of craftsmen sold their fixed sand pictures and unfixed sand jars featuring views of the Island as unique keepsakes of the Isle of Wight.
Some of these sand pictures were small and crude and left unsigned, but Edwin and John Dore of Arreton produced some fine work in the 1840s. The pictures were of postcard size and the subject matter local views such as Carisbrooke Castle, and other touristy subjects. Edwin always signed his quaint pictures in a fine hand with a mapping pen and Indian ink, one of his most successful mass produced subjects being 'Collecting birds eggs on Needles Cliffs'. John Dore used a card embellished with a printed border of lace design on which to execute his sand pictures although the quality of his work was inferior to that of his brother.
Few of the Island sand artists filled in the sky, giving that detail a light colourwash as a finishing touch, sometimes leaving doors and windows free of sand which would be blocked in with Indian ink. In the 1860s and 1870s J. Symons of Cowes kept up the good work, producing local views much larger than postcard size, mounted in glazed oak or maple frames and signed with the artist's signature on the reverse.
The father and son team the Neates of Newport sold their works from a stall outside Carisbrooke Castle gates where visitors were offered sand pictures and sand jars priced from 1/- to 2/6 each and the son grew his fingernails abnormally long in order to distribute the sand on his pictures.
During the 1930s and 1940s R.J.Snow of Lake came nearest to producing sand pictures in the manner of the Georgian craftsmen, but postcard size, although he did produce some fine commissioned work, particularly a view of Oddicombe in Devon, in which the sea and sky were also 'painted' in sand, but after the war years the quality of the postcard sand pictures deteriorated with the mass produced article with little taste or skill being offered for sale for a few shillings.
Sand Bottles
In the 1860's to 1890's Andrew ClemensAndrew Clemens
Andrew Clemens was a sand artist from the U.S. state of Iowa. Clemens created sand bottles, using a type of sandpainting to complete his pieces.-Early life:...
a deaf mute born in Dubuque, Iowa, U.S.A. became the undisputed master of the craft of creating unfixed pictures using multicoloured sands collected from the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi and compressed inside glass bottles or ornate chemist jars. The subjects of his sand bottles included ornately decorated sentimental verses, sailing ships, portraits — including George Washington, as well as exotic birds, plants and animals. His sand bottles have become museum pieces and highly prized antiques which nowadays sell at auction for thousands of dollars. He exhibited his work at the St. Louis trade fair and having spent hours creating a picture in a bottle would demonstrate to an incredulous audience that the picture inside was unfixed by destroying the bottle with a hammer, but being a true showman he was never short of commissions. One customer was a soldier who came to collect a pair of jars that he had ordered for his true love, but as he held the jars aloft to admire the superb handiwork they briefly touched and in an instant smashed to pieces on the floor! But so as not to disappoint his cherie he willingly paid up for replacements to be collected during his next leave.
Sand carpets
In the province of DrentheDrenthe
Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...
in The Netherlands in the late 19th, early 20th century it was custom to use white sand for painting some simple decoration on the tile
Tile
A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...
d floor, mostly for special occasions or celebrations. The next day it was swept up again.
Hekelgem Belgium 1973 was the centenary year of the craft of "Old Zandtapijt". The hotels and cafes would employ artisans to strew ornate sand pictures in unfixed coloured sands on the tiled floors of their premises to encourage passing tourists to halt and enjoy local hospitality on their way towards Brussels. Roger de Boeck, born in 1930, was a well-respected exponent of this craft, who used glue to fix his sand pictures to a suitable base selling them to visitors to his atelier. In addition to biblical scenes, his finest works included a portrait of H M Queen Elizabeth 1953, and President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, in the early 60s. This craft continues to this day and a booklet to celebrate the centenary was published on 1 February 1973.
Modern culture
In modern days, sandpainting is most often practiced during Dia de los MuertosDay of the Dead
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in many cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality...
(Day of the Dead) in Mexico and the United States. Streets are decorated with sand paintings that are later swept away, symbolizing the fleeting nature of life. Of note are the sandpaintings done during the Seattle Dia De Muertos Festival, but the most exciting development has been the Performance Art of Sand Animation which has created a new wave of younger artists and also revived interest in all types of sand painting.
Present day sand painting techniques
With a huge surge of interest in craft subjects having a serious environmental slant and a spate of craft magazines encouraging readers to try it for themselves, permanent sand painting skills have improved dramatically the quality and variety of work available in this medium.The environmental aspects of a craft with which one can compose such quirky creations have much to commend them to a wider, more appreciative audience, and with the exception of the non toxic adhesives used, all the work shown below consists of re-cycled and found materials and no preparatory drawing is made. Dry naturally occurring oxidised and mineral charged coloured sands perhaps with the addition of powdered charcoal to widen the palette are sprinkled through a sieve or 'drawn' with a paper funnel onto the area of the picture being worked on, and then blended in - either with a discarded feather 'brush' or gently blown into position with a drinking straw before being permanently fixed to a plywood offcut which is used as a 'canvass'. Having been allowed to dry the sand painter moves on to the next section of the picture. Any minor adjustments or snags are sorted before the work is given a final coat of varnish which intensifies the depth of colour but without the disadvantage of surface reflection which occurs in the case of many oil paintings.
See also
Other sandpaintings- KolamKolamKolam is a form of painting that is drawn using rice powder. A Kolam is a geometrical line drawing composed of curved loops, drawn around a grid pattern of dots. In South India, it is widely practised by female Hindu family members in front of their homes.-Purpose:Kolams are thought to bestow...
(Indian sandpainting) - MandalaMandalaMaṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
- MarmotintoMarmotintoMarmotinto is the art of creating pictures using coloured sand or marble dust and otherwise known as sand painting.Originating in Europe, and probably based on the Japanese craft of bonseki, marmotinto was fleetingly popular in England following a 1783 dinner party given by George III at Windsor...
- RangavalliRangavalliRangavalli Muggu in Telugu, Rangoli in Kannada and Kolam in Tamil is an Indian pattern based on mathematical grid structures, used to make a form of sandpainting for religious festivals...
(Indian sandpainting) - RangoliRangoliRangoli is a traditional decorative folk art from India. These are decorative designs made on floors of living rooms and courtyards during Hindu festivals and are meant as sacred welcoming areas for the Hindu deities. The ancient symbols have been passed on through the ages, from each generation to...
(Indian sandpainting) - YantraYantraYantra is the Sanskrit word for "instrument" or "machine". Much like the word "instrument" itself, it can stand for symbols, processes, automata, machinery or anything that has structure and organization, depending on context....
General
- BonkeiBonkeiBonkei is Japanese for "tray landscape". A bonkei is a three-dimensional depiction of a landscape in miniature, portrayed using mainly dry materials like rock, papier-mâché or cement mixtures, and sand in a shallow tray...
(Japanese dry tray landscapes) - Sand drawingSand drawingSand drawing is a ni-Vanuatu artistic and ritual tradition and practice, recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."Sand drawing" is produced in sand, volcanic ash or clay...
Sources
- Eugene Baatsoslanii Joe, Mark Bahti, Oscar T. Branson, Navajo Sandpainting Art, (Treasure Chest Publications, Inc, 1978.) ISBN 0-918080-20-7 Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International.
- Villasenor, David. Tapestries in Sand: The Spirit of Indian Sandpainting. California, Naturegraph Company, Inc. 1966.
- Wilson, Joseph A.P. "Relatives Halfway Round The World: Southern Athabascans and Southern Tarim Fugitives", Limina, 11. 2005. pp. 67–78. URL: http://www.limina.arts.uwa.edu.au/__data/page/90432/wilson.pdf
- Arthur MorrisonArthur MorrisonArthur George Morrison was an English author and journalist known for his realistic novels about London's East End and for his detective stories....
. Japanese Sand-Pictures pp. 609–612. Strand MagazineStrand MagazineThe Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
,1909. - G. B. Hughes. Decorating the Georgian Dessert Table. Country LifeCountry Life (magazine)Country Life is a British weekly magazine, based in London at 110 Southwark Street, and owned by IPC Media, a Time Warner subsidiary.- Topics :The magazine covers the pleasures and joys of rural life, as well as the concerns of rural people...
, 21.5.1959. - F.C.H.. Marmortinto or Sandpainting. Notes and QueriesNotes and QueriesNotes and Queries is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism". Its emphasis is on "the factual rather than the speculative"...
, pp217/8 11.3.1854 http://nq.oxfordjournals.org/content/vols1-IX/issue228/index.dtl - J. Mummery. Marmortinto or Sandpainting.Notes and QueriesNotes and QueriesNotes and Queries is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism". Its emphasis is on "the factual rather than the speculative"...
, pp327/8 8.4.1854 http://nq.oxfordjournals.org/content/vols1-IX/issue232/index.dtl - Fred Lee Carter. The "Lost Art" of sandpainting pp. 215–221. The Connoisseur Illustrated, 1927.
- Fred Lee Carter. Sand Pictures. Notes and QueriesNotes and QueriesNotes and Queries is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism". Its emphasis is on "the factual rather than the speculative"...
, 8.12.1928.http://nq.oxfordjournals.org/content/volCLV/issuedec08/index.dtl - E. McCoy. Pictures Painted with Sand. AntiquesAntiquesAn antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...
, March 1936. - Bea Howe. Sand Pictures. Homes and Gardens, April 1940.
- D. A. Ponsonby. A Sand Painter and Morland pp. 111–113. The Connoisseur-American Edition, April 1955.
- Lt.-Colonel Rybot. Auction of Sand Paintings. Sotherby and Co, 15.6.1956
- S. Groves. They Painted in Sand. The LadyThe Lady (magazine)The Lady is Britain's oldest weekly women's magazine. It has been in continuous publication since 1885 and is based in London. It is particularly notable for its classified advertisements for domestic service and child care; it also has extensive listings of holiday properties.The magazine was...
, 22.1.1959. - J. Toller. The Regency and Victorian Crafts. Ward Lock, 1969.
- C. P. Woodhouse. The Victoriana Collectors Handbook. Bell, 1970.
- Bea Howe. Antiques from the Victorian Home. BatsfordBatsfordBatsford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 99. The village is about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh...
, 1973. - J. Field. Victorian Crafts. HeinemannHeinemann (book publisher)Heinemann is a UK publishing house founded by William Heinemann in Covent Garden, London in 1890. On William Heinemann's death in 1920 a majority stake was purchased by U.S. publisher Doubleday. It was later acquired by commemorate Thomas Tilling in 1961...
, 1973. - Brian Pike sand painter. Painting with Sand-Golden Hands Crafts-vol.70. Marshall CavendishMarshall CavendishMarshall Cavendish is a subsidiary company of Times Publishing Group, the printing and publishing subsidiary of Singapore-based conglomerate Fraser and Neave and at present is a publisher of books, directories and magazines. Marshall Cavendish was established in the United Kingdom in 1968 by Norman...
, 1976. - Joyce Eley. Sand Pictures. Wight Life, Oct-Nov. 1974.
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, 2.2.1995. - Etienne le compte. 1873 - 1973 Oud Zandtapijt published Hekelgem 1 February 1973.
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External links
- http://www.zandtapijt.be/ Greet de Boeck Hekelgem, Belgian Creator of Sand Carpets
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/49398108@N00/ Permanent Sand Paintings by Environmental Sand Artist, Brian Pike
- http://david.cadran.free.fr Contemporary French Sand Artist David Cadran's pastels and sandpaintings
- http://www.tableaux-de-sable.fr/tableau-de-sable_en.html Ginette Caramante, Contemporary French pastels and sand pictures
- http://www.naturalearthcraft.com/ Heidi McGrew Geologist and U.S.Sand Artist.
- http://www.sandesign.net/index.html Sand Paintings and Sand Sculptures by Laneve Thompkins U.S.Sand Artist
- http://www.sandsoftime.us U.S. Sand Artist Victor DeGraff
- http://clipclop.tripod.com/andrew/index.html 19c. Master Creator of Sand-jars Andrew Clemens
- http://www.vietnamsandpainting.com Vietnamese Sand-jar Artist Y Lan
- http://jordancraft.com/petra-sand-bottles/ Petra sand bottles Jordan
- http://royalsociety.org/From-music-to-sand-painting Using sound waves to create multi-material 3D objects
- http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21935957360&v=photos Articles - 'How to make sand paintings and sand jars' together with examples of what can be achieved
- "Ukrainian sand artist proves that reality TV's got talent" from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
radio and TV blog - Sand wall paintings
- tassili Sand paintings
- Sandpictures, Germany