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Man Quits His Job After Visiting Burning Man, Spends 10+ Years Drawing In The Sand
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Imagine if the intricate drawings you spent hours making were destroyed soon after completion. For 44-year-old San Francisco-based artist Andres Amador, who creates unique art from the sand up to 100,000 square feet (~35,000 sqmt) in size, this is a reality.
Amador received a BA in Environmental Science before joining the Peace Corps and then starting a regular career, but it was a visit to Burning Man in 1999 that changed him. He quit his job, and in 2004, in the hours been low and high tide, started doing sand art.
“It’s an event that cannot be encompassed in any photo or story,” Amador says of Burning Man, “and it really shifted my perspective on what life could be and how one could craft one’s life experience.”
UPDATE: For those who’ve been asking how the land artist earns for a living, here’s what Andres writes on his website: “I have done commissions and art installations for businesses and individuals across the United States and Europe. I am available for earth art commissions by project or by the day.”
More info: delightfulstories.com
RELATED:
This art is destroyed soon after it’s created
Andres Amador starts these intricate drawings at low tide
He was inspired to quit his job after attending the Burning Man festival in Nevada in 1999
Amador has been creating these sand paintings for 10+ years
After drawing the framework with a fine-tip stick, he uses a rake to shade-in different areas
“My art is my way to processing the world I experience and recreating it in grand yet fleeting ways that are a tribute to the regenerative capacity of the human spirit”
“I wish for viewers of my work to experience a sense of wonder and renewed appreciation for the miracle of life”
“I offer an opportunity to step outside of one’s day to day life and stand present in this timeless moment”
“There’s not an overt message in my work, but there’s an implied message about being in the moment,” Amador told Organic Connections
“Sometimes these paintings are being erased by the water before they’re even finished, and this perspective shows us that life is temporary and nothing will last”
“But what will we do in the face of that awareness? How will we live?”
“So much of how we live our lives is based on fear of the unknown, and death is the ultimate unknown”
“But in the face of the knowledge of our demise, to express one’s spirit and create beauty is the ultimate victory, the ultimate embrace of life”
“I’m enjoying the life that I have been living since I have the courage to follow my own path”
“Now I am travelling and creating my art on huge canvases”
DelightfulStories created a video about Amador’s work below:
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What do you think ?
PriyankaJatan 10 years ago
Wow. that is so amazing and just AWESOME!!!!!!! It so cool how perfect it looks in the sand
arslion 10 years ago
I guess he is not earning by creating this amazing art as much as bored panda earning by publishing this post.
AndresAmador 9 years ago
ouch! That' amazing for Bored Panda if thats true. Here's where I've come to, for me where I am, the exposure is always more valuable than whatever amount I might get from licensing. The businesses who license my images are getting good karma and can know that they are directly showing their support for creators. That said, the indirect support is unquantifiable.
Load More Replies...
AndresAmador 9 years ago
My trust in the universe- ha ha! There's quite a bit in that account. :-)
Load More Replies...
LeannaPeiffer 10 years ago
I would love to do what he does, but how does he support himself ... food and lodgings?
AndresAmador 9 years ago
I put myself out there for folks who appreicate what I do to assist in logistical support. I live simply, for the most part. I have gotten hired for all sorts of projects. All said my guess explanation is that universe wants me to be doing what I do...
Load More Replies...
MichelleLaRiviere 10 years ago
Impressive!! I shared the video on Facebook today and wrote a little preface: "There is a growing environmentally conscious movement among artists to no longer buy/use toxic chemicals/materials of any kind to make their art. Some even work in a such a way that what they make is temporary, therefore NOT adding to the mountain of "stuff" that our planet is currently drowning in. The idea of LEAVE NO FOOTPRINT is taken quite literally in Amador's stunning creations. p.s. Amador refers to being a "dead fish in the stream." I've always called it being stuck on the hamster wheel. Being born with the soul of an artist means honouring the creative impulse that has been an important human trait since the Paleolithic cave paintings and before. Our world was shaped by creatives, and our survival depends on it."
AndresAmador 9 years ago
I appreciate you sharing and giving such a generous assessment. I cringe when I watch the video as they had it all scripted (without my knowldege or approval) and I felt pressured in the moment to go along with their dramatized version of events. I would never speak about dead fish. A live fish might choose to float- to let the current take them to new shores- to even swim *with* the current. Its a continuum of how we experience this existence- our own personal existence- to be energized by the way we live it or to be drained by it. It is a gaurantee that when our lives are energizing us the world steps in to engage it. I don't gaurantee success, but success usually doesn't come without this approach. And if one does *succeed* through being drained- I also gaurantee that you will look back with regret.
Load More Replies...
AndresAmador 9 years ago
not enough, most likely. And sand is actually only one of the many mediums I have worked on/with. The beach just gets the most press (and admittedly is the most fun to do, so I do more of it)...
Load More Replies...
TashaHarris 10 years ago
This has just become my favourite art form ... Absolutely stunning... Thank you
PriyankaJatan 10 years ago
Wow. that is so amazing and just AWESOME!!!!!!! It so cool how perfect it looks in the sand
arslion 10 years ago
I guess he is not earning by creating this amazing art as much as bored panda earning by publishing this post.
AndresAmador 9 years ago
ouch! That' amazing for Bored Panda if thats true. Here's where I've come to, for me where I am, the exposure is always more valuable than whatever amount I might get from licensing. The businesses who license my images are getting good karma and can know that they are directly showing their support for creators. That said, the indirect support is unquantifiable.
Load More Replies... AndresAmador 9 years ago
My trust in the universe- ha ha! There's quite a bit in that account. :-)
Load More Replies... LeannaPeiffer 10 years ago
I would love to do what he does, but how does he support himself ... food and lodgings?
AndresAmador 9 years ago
I put myself out there for folks who appreicate what I do to assist in logistical support. I live simply, for the most part. I have gotten hired for all sorts of projects. All said my guess explanation is that universe wants me to be doing what I do...
Load More Replies... MichelleLaRiviere 10 years ago
Impressive!! I shared the video on Facebook today and wrote a little preface: "There is a growing environmentally conscious movement among artists to no longer buy/use toxic chemicals/materials of any kind to make their art. Some even work in a such a way that what they make is temporary, therefore NOT adding to the mountain of "stuff" that our planet is currently drowning in. The idea of LEAVE NO FOOTPRINT is taken quite literally in Amador's stunning creations. p.s. Amador refers to being a "dead fish in the stream." I've always called it being stuck on the hamster wheel. Being born with the soul of an artist means honouring the creative impulse that has been an important human trait since the Paleolithic cave paintings and before. Our world was shaped by creatives, and our survival depends on it."
AndresAmador 9 years ago
I appreciate you sharing and giving such a generous assessment. I cringe when I watch the video as they had it all scripted (without my knowldege or approval) and I felt pressured in the moment to go along with their dramatized version of events. I would never speak about dead fish. A live fish might choose to float- to let the current take them to new shores- to even swim *with* the current. Its a continuum of how we experience this existence- our own personal existence- to be energized by the way we live it or to be drained by it. It is a gaurantee that when our lives are energizing us the world steps in to engage it. I don't gaurantee success, but success usually doesn't come without this approach. And if one does *succeed* through being drained- I also gaurantee that you will look back with regret.
Load More Replies... AndresAmador 9 years ago
not enough, most likely. And sand is actually only one of the many mediums I have worked on/with. The beach just gets the most press (and admittedly is the most fun to do, so I do more of it)...
Load More Replies... TashaHarris 10 years ago
This has just become my favourite art form ... Absolutely stunning... Thank you
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