Jim Denevan is known for founding Outstanding in the Field, a roving, farm-to-table meal event, and his disappearing art. That’s right. Denevan aims to make art that nature can destroy.

Stress relief with sand

Denevan started making art in 1995. The first material he used was sand. It was readily available in California, where Denevan resides, and soothing to work with.

At the time, Denevan used his art creation as a stress relief tool.

“My mother became ill with Alzheimers—regarding all off the stress and sadness associated with my mother’s illness, the drawing in the sand was not only only mentally and physically soothing it was also mentally and physically challenging.”

Denevan explains that his art helped him feel strong—like he was composing his life. This control allowed him to work through his mother’s illness and come to terms with other challenges that came up.

“I [experienced] having three of my brothers become schizophrenic in the same year… And I experience another brother dying in an accident when I was 15,” Denevan says.

“Perhaps at that time there was a clear feeling that art of some kind would be central to my existence—that I would express myself—I would speak of something of the human condition through art.”

The appeal of the Earth

Denevan typically works with the tools the Earth provides—he uses a stick, sand, grass, and snow for most of his pieces. For larger, more complicated pieces, Denevan may use a rake or his pickup truck.

Depending on the size and structure of his work, Denevan may spend as little as six hours or as much as a few weeks on a piece.

Denevan, in his own… art

When we reached out to Denevan, he sent us some hand-drawn responses—some heartfelt, some tongue-in-cheek—on trash that explain why he does what he does, and a few thoughts on keeping the Earth canvas-ready.

EcoSalon: When did you begin making art?

EcoSalon: Why use nature, and things that eventually wear away, as your art?

EcoSalon: Why and how does nature inspire your art?

EcoSalon: Do you think your art is especially moving now that climate change is becoming more of a threat?

EcoSalon: What are you currently working on.

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Land artist Jim Denevan’s medium is sand.

From a single piece of driftwood, a low tide, endless grains of sand, and inspiration, art is born. Then, just a handful of hours later, the tide rises and the work blurs, finally melting away. Artist Jim Denevan repeats this transient artistry on beaches around the world.

The ephemeral beauty of Denevan has graced frozen lakes, dry lakes, and desert sands in addition to the sand that parallels our oceans.

Denevan’s fleeting artistic endeavors are the largest pieces of artwork ever created (some are several miles in diameter). The wonder of his artwork falls into the category of land art.

The brilliance of Denevan was wound into eloquence by the Anthropologist:

“Artist Jim Denevan is in pursuit of the impermanent. From the vanishing curl of a wave to sand briefly stilled between tides, nature’s fleeting moments are his stock-in-trade.”

Denevan also creates art with earth and ice. Outside the realm of art, Denevan founded Outstanding in the Field – a mobile feast aimed to, “re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it.”

For more inspiring land art, explore Andy Goldsworthy’s land art.

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