I had the pleasure to create a unique sand art performance for the New Years 2025 event at the infamous Six Senses resort in Zighy Bay, Oman . I also created 84 original, painted pieces for the guests to take home.

A selection of the art pieces were shown on display in handmade bamboo frames, behind my performance which was enjoyed by the spectators on their New Year Eve’s journey.

Drawing with sand was not something new to me and if you have followed my animated workshops you will know that I ran a stop motion, sand art workshop in Hualien a few years ago.

However, this was the first time I was doing it live. As in most cases, sand art videos and animation are post-edited and cut to create a smoother and faster show. However, when you are performing live, there is little room for error.

Well, I sure like a challenge and I accepted, working on the sand show in my workshop beforehand to perfect the story and test different techniques and patterns.

I created a Middle Eastern-style story with natural landscapes, architecture, and unique elements such as paragliding—a unique experience that is offered to the resorts’ guests.

Planning for the performance began in July and was necessary due to the volume of paintings that also had to be produced alongside the performance.

Arriving on the 30th of December to the resort, I had one evening to be able to test run the performance in the evening. The amazing team who helped with the set up were incredible and everything was planned down to a t. We finished up the last few technical tweaks and everything was set for the next days performance.

I was elated, during the show the guests were marvelling at the continuity of the shots and children were quite literally gobsmacked, not being able to even conceive the magic of the live artistic movie. Toward the end of my show, a couple hours of performing later, some children wanted to have a go, earlier in the show I denied the pleas but this time I decided to let them experience it, it’s much harder than it looks, but I am sure they would have fond memories.

Thank you to the team at Six Senses, Zighy Bay and the events talent director, Ugo, for this opportunity, I won’t forget it.