Sand In Your Eye

Jamie Wardley from Sandinyoureye creating his sculpture in The Town Hall, Hebden Bridge

 

It's not often you get to watch an artist at work, or for them to be so very accommodating to stop, have a chat, and explain what they're working on for a few minutes mid flow.  We've been lucky enough to welcome Jamie Wardley from Sandinyoureye  for a week as he creates Loss Is Eternal, a First World War commemorative sand sculpture commissioned by Hebden Royd Town Council.

The sculpture depicts the moment when a wife of a solider opens a letter common during World War One, with the words

WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU YOUR HUSBAND HAS BEEN KILLED IN ACTION

As Jamie works on the piece in our riverside courtyard, he welcomes members of the public to come up close and get a good view at what he's creating and is happy to stop and chat for a bit too.

Jamie will be back over the coming months; "I will re-work the sculpture on two occasions over the coming months, one of which will coincide with Remembrance Day, during which the woman will become middle aged and then elderly.  This is to signify that although people learn to cope with loss, the hurt that we feel through tragedy is eternal and never leaves us," explains Jamie.  The sculpture is in the courtyard for public view until late November 2014.

Photos by Paul Burrows