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Most of us have at some time or another built a sandcastle. Few of us have taken it to the extremes of Paul Hoggard and Remy Geerts. International sand sculptors, they travel the world making extraordinary creations from sand.

Here they tell us how it's done.

Only wet sand is used, so the working area is always wetted - Pour buckets of water out on the ground or simply build your sculpture on the wet tide line.

Once the ground is saturated pat firmly with the palms of the hands, until the surface is smooth and hard - Draw a basic out line of your sculpture.

Damp or wet sand can then be piled with a shovel or your hands on to the centre of the outline - Pat into a basic shape.

Now give the appearing sculpture a good watering and also water around the outside edges. This gives very wet sand (mud) that can easily be scooped up by hand and put straight where it is needed.

Patting of the sand removes the air in the structure which allows the sand particles to bond together tightly - Slowly scoop and gently pat the wet sand evenly - Smooth the sculpture with the hands while it is taking its basic form.

Stepping away and looking at the progress is very important so you can see where you might need to put more sand or take some away - Always make it slightly larger than you need as you will be taking sand away as you sculpt.

The sculpture can now be shaped and carved from the top to the bottom.

Brushes are good for smoothing the sand. Many different textures are possible to make in the sand, always clean away any excess sand and smooth the area around the base of the sculpture.

On indoor sculpture we spray the finished result with a thin layer of diluted children's glue. This prevents the sculpture from drying out and the details from blowing away. However we never use glue on the beach, this can damage the ecological balance.

If it's built right, maintained and protected it can stand for months. For indoor sculptures this can be even longer, if not touched and when the environment is kept moist. The detail can be maintained by periodical spraying of water vapour.

Wind is one of our major problems because the sand will blow away grain by grain. This can be overcome by keeping the sand wet, screening it, compacting it thoroughly and in extreme cases the use of windbreaks.

Remember - Sand sculpture is an ephemeral and temporary art form. It's also great fun.

For lots more about sand sculpture visit Paul and Remy's excellent website: www.sandartist.com

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