Weston Sand Sculpture Festival 2014

It has become a family tradition to visit the Weston super Mare Sand Sculpture Festival each year and while my mum was visiting over the bank holiday weekend we seized the opportunity to renew the tradition!  This year the theme is "Once Upon a Time" and we were really excited and had a real sense of anticipation to see the different sculptures exhibited.  We certainly weren't disappointed - the usual flair and detail was evident in the various displays.  The sculptures are large in scale - all far taller than me - even the smaller exhibits.  I love to see how the artists interpret the theme and choose their subject - below a sculptor is working on Willy Wonka!

I had two favourite models this year - an inspiring dragon from the Hobbit...

...and the gorgeous sleeping lion (Aslan) from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  They were simply stunning - just look at the movement captured in that mane.

Little Lady liked the Beatrix Potter characters - especially the bunnies...

...and the Alice in Wonderland sculptures best (I have to admit the Hare was so lovely!)

I love the way that the Hare is so expressive - there's so much character in his face!

Whilst Little Man liked the Vampire from Dracula and Frankenstein!!  Hmm.

As usual, the children enjoyed having a go at sculpting themselves - almost more than the exhibit itself!  Some sand and water made for fun creativity for them... and a coffee and a seat for Granny, me and the Hubby was a lovely respite for us!

The exhibition was far busier than I'd ever seen it - but I guess we'd never visited on a bank holiday before! The sea front businesses needed a busy holiday period and I'm glad that tourists are visiting this inspiring exhibit.

There were far more sculptures than I've included here and I would thoroughly recommend a visit if you are in the area.  It's probably worth taking a bucket and spade to fully make the most of the generous sand pit so the kiddies can play and adults can relax!

Poor Rapunzel trapped in her Castle!

If you've enjoyed these sand sculptures you can see exhibits from previous themes including 'Hollywood' and 'Fun and Games'  here and here.

I have a crafty make to share with you and some simple, pretty things too!  Until then, have a happy Sunday,

J9 x

Weston Sand Sculpture Festival - Hollywood Theme

Last year one of my earliest blog posts was of our visit to the 2012 Sand Sculpture Festival.  We took advantage of the sunny morning on Bank Holiday Monday and ventured out to the sea front to visit the festival this year.  There has been all sorts of reports locally of how the bad weather has had a really negative impact on the longevity of the sculptures this year and many have had to be repaired.

Despite this, we really enjoyed our visit - it's really fascinating to see all the sculptures various artists come up with and what they are inspired by within a theme.

The theme was Hollywood for the 2013 Sand Festival. 

...This was by far my favourite sculpture this year.  Just look at the detail in those eyes.  They seem to capture such animosity!











The littlie's favourite was this Batman and Hulk sculpture. 

It was fantastically detailed and enormous!  Poor Hulk is really getting a bashing from the wind as well as Batman!!

 

But then - just look at the size of King Kong!  You can see bits of damage to the sculpture around his face but he remained extremely impressive in reality.

 A large area was dominated by characters from Harry Potter!

Jaws was a little scary ;0)












 



And Gollum added another 'Baddie' to the mix.  The face and eyes are so expressive - and just look at those fingernails!

The children enjoyed a number of the cartoon themed sculptures - Sid from Ice Age and Toy Story 3 above.  Little B found it funny that the bad teddy (sorry - forgot his name) had a bird 'doo doo' on his head.  Karma I guess ;0)



ET was phoning home too...

The Titanic was sinking into the sand - I so wanted to do the cliched "I'm King of the World" pose but wasn't brave enough to do so in front of the throngs of people that were also viewing the sculptures!



























A Velociraptor took centre stage in a sculpture comprising lots of different elements from Jurassic Park.

There were lots of other sculptures too - James Bond, Clint Eastwood, Darth Vader and a sand sculpted Hollywood sign to name but a few so all in all... 

LOTS TO SMILE ABOUT!!

Despite all my efforts, due to half term holidays and my Big Girl being off school with a chest infection this week I am behind on my blog posting!  Hey ho - In June I celebrate the first anniversary of this blog and am about to launch the Carry It Forward (although I'm majorly intimidated to offer my home made goodies to you talented people!) So please do watch out for those posts as I'd love you to participate!

Thanks for reading,

J9 x

 

Today I'm sharing in these fab parties!

Show and Tell Friday

Simple & Sweet Friday



A Sunny Sunday at Weston Sand Sculpture Festival

In early July we woke up early, spied the blue skies and scrambled out of the house in an eager mood primed ready for investigation.  We had agreed that the "very next sunny day" we would take a trip into Weston super Mare and visit the Sand Sculpture Festival www.westonsandsculpture.co.uk/  

It's become an annual trip for us since we moved to Somerset and depicts sculptures created from compacted sand by world acclaimed artists - and you can walk amongst them and even have a go on a small scale yourself. 

This year's theme is 'Fun and Games' and there were some really impressive sculptures - they've stood up to an enormous amount of wind and rain with astonishingly little signs of damage and they are amazing in their scale and detail.

I loved the cheeky clown with his tongue stuck out.  He wasn't a freaky clown - more endearing than chucky style!

B loved the guy on the motorbike. It was like real movement had been captured in the sculpture with the goggles and scarf blowing round his neck.





The roller coaster looked like it would be great fun - the little people in the coaster cars were even leaning back from the force of g force!!







R's favourite was an adorable HuGE teddy bear (the height of a large house) with building blocks around him highlighting the theme of the exhibition.

There were lots more elements to enjoy but in case anyone is off to visit, I really don't want to spoil the surprise here!!  Visiting the festival was a thoroughly enjoyable way to pass a morning.  R & B played castle building with empty paper cups and fashioning sculptures of their own, whilst the 'grown-ups' watched on with smiley faces, cradling hot coffee....myself looking gheko like, head turned to the sun, enjoying the warmth on my face - something simple to enjoy indeed.

 And my favourite sculpture?

Ah, Queenie.  Need I say more!