Life's a beach as studio opens in Calder Valley

Sand In Your Eye. Sand and ice sculptures at Topland, Cragg Vale.Jamie Wardley.

For more than a decade art organisation Sand in Your Eye has created innovative works – ranging from Santa Claus to The Queen and Charles Darwin to Gollum – for public display.

The company’s old premises in Bradford were not equipped to invite people inside but its new studio, in scenic Cragg Vale, mean visitors will be able to see how the magic comes together.

Sand in Your Eye artistic director Jamie Wardley said: “People can now come to us. It’s a big beautiful studio for people to be able to come and join in with workshops.

Sand In Your Eye. Sand and ice sculptures at Topland, Cragg Vale. Tom Bolland.

“We wanted the experience to be really inspiring and where we are is so beautiful. When you drive here you’re just getting into the countryside.”

Previous projects have included the world’s largest stop-frame animation in collaboration with Aardman Animation – the creators of the Wallace and Gromit films – a 120 tonne sculpture of Charles Darwin standing 5m tall, and the Fallen 9000 – a sand drawing created by more 1,000 volunteers in one day in Arromanches, France, to represent the people who lost their lives during the D-Day landings.

In 2014 Mr Wardley completed 10 tonne sand sculpture that signified the loss of a husband and soldier in World War One at Hebden Bridge Town Hall for Remembrance Day.

The sculpture, titled Loss is Eternal, depicted the moment a wife of a soldier opens a letter during World War One and finds out he has died.

The group has also worked on light and snow sculptures in Finland, helped engineer a quarry into a bird sanctuary in Surrey, and created light sculptures visible only through a camera. Email [email protected] to enquire about forthcoming workshops or visit www.sandinyoureye.co.uk for more information.