School of Conservation Sciences

Former BU student makes good use of skills

Good or bad sand? You decide.

One-time BU student Jamie Wardley hasn't been wasting his time since leaving the University, spending much of his time sculputuring piles of sand, and chunks of ice, into mind-boggling artistic creations. Having recently seen our news articles on sand castles, which were also featured in the BBC Coast series, he got in touch to offer his thoughts on the ideal consistency and, of course, plug his website at the same time.

"I couldn't help but to attach a photo of a sculpture I made to demonstrate verticality," says Jamie. "However, this is building sand, so the ratios are different again because of the high clay content. With beach sand you saturate the sand so that it's in solution and then vibrate it. Because the sand corns are in solution they are able to vibrate into best possible fit. As beach sand is so porrous, the water quickly drains, helping to solidify the sand even more (perhaps the draining sand creates a vacuum effect?) This leaves you with solid sand that will achieve truly vertical sculptures."

Sandcastle

See more of his work at www.sandinyoureye.co.uk

04/03/08