15 October 2021

Superb sand art in a bottle


Two examples of the work of Andrew Clemens.
Andrew Clemens (1857 – 1894) was a sand artist from Iowa in the United States. Clemens formed his pictures by compressing natural colored sands inside chemists' jars to create his works of art.

He would collect naturally colored grains of sand from an area in Pikes Peak State Park known as Pictured Rocks. At Pictured Rocks, the basal portion of the sandstone near the Sand Cave is naturally colored by iron and mineral staining. Clemens separated the sand grains into piles, by color, and used them to form the basis for his art... 

To create his art he inserted the presorted grains of sand into small glass drug bottles using homemade tools formed out of hickory sticks and florists wire. His process utilized no glue and pressure from the other sand grains alone held the artwork together. When Clemens completed a sand bottle he sealed the bottle with a stopper and wax...

Andrew returned to McGregor [Iowa] to live year-round after a fire at the State School for the Deaf destroyed the dorm where he had lived... Clemens showed his work at the Saint Paul Dime Museum in 1889. He earned an invitation to demonstrate his work at the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, which he declined due to his failing health. His artwork sold for $5–7 at the time...
Image via.

Another (expensive) example found by reader shiningrobes.

3 comments:

  1. I’ve held out hope of owning one of these for years, but alas:
    https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/auctions/auction-results/andrew-clemens-sand-bottle-sells-for-record-956k-at-hindman/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rapid appreciation: From thousands to tens of thousands to nearly a million as noted above. (Oh, not to mention the artist was paid less than ten dollars for these incredible creations.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92_F1BoP_AA

    ReplyDelete

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