in sand

 I mentioned in my balancing rock post on Monday that there was a really cool artist here in town. He had been here last October, with a pumpkin exhibit, that we somehow (mostly) missed. We saw a few of the displays when they were taking it all down and they were just amazing. The good news is, he will be back this October to do it again. Be assured, I will not miss it this time!

He was here again, this time doing sand sculpting. That in itself is just plain unbelievable, but doing it in the desert rather than by an ocean,  is really, really cool. And we are so very lucky to be able to enjoy it. His name is Ray Villafane. They have this sign out with his story.

I cropped in on it so you can read about his fame.  And then scroll down and see what he sculpted here in our town center!

Pretty impressive isn't it? And here he is in Carefree, Arizona, doing this amazing sand sculpting. This is what we are getting to enjoy so close to our house.

A very big elephant!!

                       It is all made from sand!! And a few hairs added using palm tree "grass".

 This particular day that I was there (I've been many times) he had a helper working on some chess pieces. I wasn't sure if they were just participating in a workshop of sorts or actually helping him make pieces to be added to the sculpture.

The details are so intricate. I just can't get over it!

 Meet Ray. He does live in the Phoenix area and is hoping to move here to Carefree. That would be a lucky thing for us! Because, he says he loves the gardens and has some other ideas for projects!

Please look very closely at his head. (the elephant, not Ray).There are little stray hairs that look so lifelike!

                                          And then there is his behind. His tail!! Ha!

                                 The mouse. The chess opponent. Look at his whiskers!

I'm not sure what the eyeballs were made out of...but they looked so very real!

 Look how he is holding the chess piece with his trunk. All the peanuts were individually sculpted.

A view from below the tree trunk...just to give you a mouse-eye view.

 

All the details ...

A bit of a sun sparkle peeking around the elephant's head.

 Another view of his eye and all the skin wrinkles. The setting sun on this particular day gave some good shadows to all the details of his skin.

Chess pieces.

 One more full shot of this giant sand sculpture. It will be there until August, which is when he said he will disassemble it and recycle the sand. He hasn't decided yet, but said he may do another sculpture and leave it until October when he will start on the next exhibit. Or, wait and incorporate a sand sculpture within his pumpkin display. He explains that under the sun shades, this should be well protected from weather. If they know a big Haboob( ironically that is a sand/dust storm) or one of these giant Arizona rains comes our way, they will try to put up another canopy to better protect it. Otherwise, this is here for everyone to enjoy for the entire summer. If you are in the area...you should check it out!

Austin made the observation...
"It is interesting that they are both using a trunk to play chess."
Clever guy.

Not only did he do the elephant, which is the center attraction...he did two other sculptures that are in a different area of the gardens. These were the first...a trial run I think. They are just as cute.

An owl and her two babies.

And a small rabbit.

                                                 I love the eyes on the two little ones!

These sculptures are not protected, so it will be interesting to see how it will stand up to the weather. So far it has been over a month with one small rain shower and lots of sun and lots and lots of heat!!!

Have you seen how hot the temps have been here? Hot I tell ya!