Andres Amador at Carson

Hey guys!

So on Friday, Andres Amador made a special visit to Carson Beach. He is an amazing and well known sand raking artist. He came to do a little tutorial for the harbor explorers and also for a group of kids. We had about twenty children come down to the beach that day for the sand raking activity. First, he gave us each a proper demonstration of how to use the sand rake. Then each of us picked a design from a stack of papers and followed the instructions to create beautiful flowers. You can see the flower I created here. When I began, I was uncertain of how well the flower would come out. But after I finished and saw the documentation, I was really proud of my work!

Once we all had practiced properly sand raking, we worked with kids from the South Boston Neighborhood House who were around seven and eight years old. They each had picked a design too, and we helped them create those pictures along with unique and spontaneous creations. I was so impressed by the work these children did! They were all so focused, and they really took their time in the hot hot sun to make these designs great. I could tell their counselors were proud, and so were we! It was really a team effort to create such work on the long stretch of beach, and the final product really was phenomenal. One of my favorite things was taking the pictures, because I loved comparing the size of the artwork with the size of the person who created it. The difference was drastic, and it was really like making art that was larger than life! Here is Ryan with his flower. Didn't he do a great job?

After the children were done, we worked with Andres and each other to create a mandala-type piece as one team. It took a lot of work and time, but we pushed through. We had to be meticulous with our work and really pay attention to what we were each responsible for. If one person did not complete their task properly, the whole piece could have turned out completely different. And on such a large scale design, it was really difficult at first to envision what it would and should look like by the end. But when I saw the aerial view of our completed mandala, my jaw dropped. It looked AMAZING. I am even more proud of my team for working so hard in the grueling heat to make something so spectacular. It was a team bonding experience and I am really glad I was a part of it.

Happy week everyone!

Bridget M