Playa Painting- Xiuhcóatl
In honor of being in Mexico and of being on a long, thin beach, here is a representation of Xiuhcóatl, the Aztec fire serpent, the light that drives out the darkness. While we were finishing, an elder who felt ancient yet vibrant came walking along the beach with his staff. It felt so beautiful and appropriate.
In honor of being in Mexico and of being on a long, thin beach, here is a representation of Xiuhcóatl, the Aztec fire serpent, the light that drives out the darkness. While we were finishing, an elder who felt ancient yet vibrant came walking along the beach with his staff. It felt so beautiful and appropriate.
Andres Amador is a “beach artist,” using the sand as a canvas. He grew up in California, but that wasn’t what inspired him to use the beach to display his visions, because he didn’t like the weather on the beaches in San Francisco. He was on a trip in Hawaii in 2004 when the idea came to him. He was into “different types of geometry around the world, such as crop circles and ancient architecture … things loosely labeled as sacred geometry” and he uses these to create what he calls Earthscapes on beaches up and down Northern California. Amador refers to designs he sketches on index cards. He makes small but precise marks in the sand, and then connects them. “Nothing else is on my mind when I’m doing my artwork,” Amador said. “You can’t hear the cars. The city washes away. I kind of feel as though I’m painting. I’m using my whole body, and the end of the rake is my brush.”
He does these as commissioned works, like for weddings, and as group exercises, and sells cards and prints. The photo on the left was done for the full moon on January 16, 2014. On his blog he posted: “in Sayulita, Mexico we will be leading an honoring of the first lunar cycle of 2014. We will guide the group in centering activities and then personal intention setting using the beach as our canvas. Come join!” The duration for this piece was one hour, and while he did accept donation, the event was free.
I think that would be such an amazing thing to be a part of, to create a masterpiece with a group of people, just for the sake of creating it. I never really thought about the creation of art that was temporary, but what he creates is so beautiful, and I think that it is so much for than the finished piece, it is about the creating of it. I think it would be hard to let go of something like this, but he says: “When I’m done with the piece and I take my photos and I sit with it for a few minutes, I feel complete,” Amador said. “I feel as though that line has passed through me, and it is now beyond me and I can leave. I can’t hold onto them. There is nothing I can do.”
Single images and info on them is from AndresAmadorArts.com, which is his blog. Collage is images from the web.
Other information is from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “the City Exposed: Erased by the Tide”, which I found online.
I think that would be such an amazing thing to be a part of, to create a masterpiece with a group of people, just for the sake of creating it. I never really thought about the creation of art that was temporary, but what he creates is so beautiful, and I think that it is so much for than the finished piece, it is about the creating of it. I think it would be hard to let go of something like this, but he says: “When I’m done with the piece and I take my photos and I sit with it for a few minutes, I feel complete,” Amador said. “I feel as though that line has passed through me, and it is now beyond me and I can leave. I can’t hold onto them. There is nothing I can do.”
Single images and info on them is from AndresAmadorArts.com, which is his blog. Collage is images from the web.
Other information is from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “the City Exposed: Erased by the Tide”, which I found online.