An Open Letter to the Sand Sculptors of the World

     I write to you fully understanding that I am not one of you.  I am an outsider, an observer, as I have been for over a decade.  From that position I realize I have no authority and do not claim or attempt to assert any.  However, as an observer and a passionate fan I would like to offer a few thoughts I feel you need to realize for I believe them to be the truth.

    Yours is an art that may have existed as long as man has tried to express his creativity and bring emotion and imagination into form.  One will never know.  As certainly as there has always been sand there has also been the elements that formed it and have erased the structures made from it; erosion and gravity.  But I believe that ancient humans practiced what you have perfected.

    But sand sculpting is not a nature-borne element like a tree or a mountain.  Neither is it manufactured by machines or many hands in some assembly process.  The sculptures created come from within each of you.  Every nuance, detail, and reflection of your reality comes from within your soul and is manifested in your works. 

     You, and you alone, are sand sculpture.  Without you, the magnificent beauty created for others to behold would not exist.  No singular tool is responsible for the end result.  No formula exists that would allow an apprentice to the art to mimic your creations.  What people see take place in a matter of hours has taken years of dedication to bring to fruition.

     There is now a great movement beginning in your ranks.  Borne in part by necessity and in part by frustration,  this acknowledgement of need is taking a position of permanence with you and your peers. Once firmly established, it will change the very perception of your craft.

     History is replete with examples of the outcome of such a movement.  Current events reflect others who, in their own right, are also going through this process.  No group deciding to oppose oppression and having the resolve to advance their concerns has failed to alter their destiny.  Look at religious, societal, or class evolutions and you will find that the efforts of a group of people, demanding their wishes be acknowledged have formed the change now considered to be the norm.

     It is a time of great concern, of nervous anticipation, of fear and elation.  And it is a time now before you.

     There are those who would exploit you.  There is no necessary personal malice in their thought and action.  People of this ilk have been in existence as long as man has walked upon the earth.  There have been - and are now - those whose nature it is to find an exploitable resource and to harvest it for their own benefit.  But now, as in the past and as certainly as it will be in the future, those exploited have realized that they have the ablility to change their environment and cause by banding together and allowing their unified strength to do what they cannot do singularly. 

     And it starts with a single word, "no."

     One of the pioneers of the peaceful civil rights movement in the 1960's of the United States was Martin Luther King.  Few would argue that point.  But many recognize that one of the galvanizing points of the movement was not the highly-lauded and publicized King but a black woman of no stature named Rosa Parks who, when told to move to the back of the bus where blacks were regulated to travel, simply said "no."

     Her act of what was then considered defiance gave strength to others who began to follow her example.

     You now have the opportunity to follow a path that history has shown oppressors cannot ignore, peaceful resistance.  And it begins and sustains with your resolve to simply assert yourselves and no longer tolerate being treated at less than your worth.

     Without you. . . sand sculptures would remain sand -- a flat granular material devoid of form.

     Without you. . . the public would have nothing to behold that would bring forth the childhood awe of sheer amazement long forgotten by so many.

     Without you. . . there would be no worldwide development of this ancient artform.

     Without you, the sculptors of sand, there would be no art.

     Before you now is an opportunity for you to bond together and assert your demands that you be recognized for your talents; for those who gather you together to accomodate you for what you have the ability to bring to life; and for them to adequately compensate you for your talents.  It is my fervent hope that you will do so, for no group is more worthy of long withheld recognition.

     The destiny of your art is before you.  And just as you are the creators of sand sculpture, you are also the creators of your professional destiny.  Together you are a force that cannot be avoided or countered.  You are sand sculpture.

     There are leaders amongst your ranks, but this determination of a better now and a better future is something that must be carried on by each of you.  Resolve yourselves to not accept less than you are worth and others who would not otherwise meet your realistic standards of ethical treatment will have no choice but to comply if they truly wish your expertise.

     The road ahead may seem dark and foreboding to some of you, but there is a brighter future.  Remember that those who would oppress you are not the majority.  They are simply the more visible minority.  Once dealt with, they will dissolve before you as simply as a bad pound-up faced with a rainstorm of opposition.

     Stand Up.  Stand Strong.  Carve On. 

     Your future and your art demands it.

     And you will succeed.

Third Time's a Charm

An Introduction of Sorts:

     This program is asking me if I want to see what this will look like, even before I begin.  To tell you the truth . . . I don't care.  I spent time on the last two blogs I started; one free, one paid for on another service.  Can't find either of them.

     I could blame this computer - or the web - or divine providence I guess; but, more than likely it's just me.  Regardless, I am trying this again and hopefully will be able to find it again when time allows or the brain demands.

     People write for different reasons.  I have had more than a few tell me that I should write about my town and I have.  It's easy to do.  I love living here and have been here longer than I have been anywhere in my life.  But I want to write about more than that.

     Some say I should write about sand sculpting since it is something I am passionate about.  And I would happily do so, but I am not a sculptor and my knowledge of the actual artform is limited to the realm of a peripheral member of the sculpting community, similar perhaps to a host who packs his parties with movie stars but has never appeared on screen.  As such, while my passion is great, my knowledge is limited and I feel my observations border between bland and boring.

     Unfortunately for me my creative bent is writing and it is something I must do.  That's not a "maybe" or an "if" or even a delusion of some type of grandeur.  I am a writer by training and by education and it is something that I must do for my mental health.  I can no sooner stop my writing desire than a musician could devoid her world of the notes that run through her head or the artist not doodle at least.

     Whether or not anyone will ever stumble upon this is a consideration that does not really matter from the point of its creation.  It would be gratifying to discover that someone found this and felt it warranted reading -- for that is the ego stroke all writers wish; but, this is begun through necessity.

     There are no shackles or limitations on this exercise as there had been n my two previous attempts.  The reader will have to accept they get whatever is laid before them, somewhat akin to taking a mystery tour.

     That being said. . .