Andrew Clemens Sand Art
Along the drainage below Bridal Veil Falls,
in a wooded glen known as ‘Pictured Rocks’, the Saint Peter Sandstone that is
exposed here displays numerous tints of red, yellow, and gray that shade into
white (see Plate 3, on the following pages).
The colors are produced by small amounts of minerals, mostly iron oxide,
that have percolated down from overlying rocks and were deposited in the
sandstone. These colored sands were the
source of material for Andrew Clemens’ sand paintings.
Andrew Clemens (Fig. 1) was born on January 29, 1852. He became deaf at age 5, the result of a serious illness known then as “brain fever.” When he turned 13, he attended the State School for the Deaf and Dumb in Council Bluffs.
During summer vacations, he created his technique for sand paintings. Clemens collected the sand from ‘Pictured Rocks’ and allowed the sand to dry. He separated the dry sand into piles of uniform grains of each color. These naturally colored grains formed the basis for Clemens’ sand paintings. To create his sand paintings, Clemens used only a few tools: brushes made from hickory sticks, a curved fish hook stick, and a tiny tin scoop to hold sand. His sand paintings ranged from original designs to reproductions of images from photographs.
Because the majority of the bottles that Clemens used were round-top drug jars, he painted his designs upside down. Clemens inserted the sand using the fish hook stick. The brushes were used to keep the picture straight. No glue was used in the process; the sand was only held in place by pressure from other sand grains. Once a design was completed and the bottle was full, the bottle was sealed with a stopper.
Clemens originally sold his sand paintings in the McGregor grocery store. A small bottle sold for $1; a larger personalized bottle sold for $6-$8. The popularity of his sand paintings increased as travelers and steamboat agents purchased the bottles as souvenirs. Eventually, orders for his bottles became worldwide. Although he created mostly original designs, he also did reproductions.
Some of Clemens’ work is on display in the McGregor Historical Musuem and in the State Historical Building. Photos of three of Clemens’ bottles are reproduced on Plate 2 on the following pages, and more can be seen on The Sandbottles of Andrew Clemens website (see references below).
References
The Sandbottles of Andrew Clemens: http://www.geocities.com/kaos1010/gallery/home.html
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from
Anderson, R.R. (ed.), 2000, The Natural History of Pikes Peak State Park, Clayton County, Iowa: Geological Society of Iowa Guidebook 70, p. 33.