PORT ANGELES — Ask artist Carl Jara how he seemingly defies gravity with his winning sand sculpture, “Ecsta-sea,” and he’ll say he’s actually working with Newton’s Law.
“The sand actually pushes down and out,” Jara said Sunday, while winning the $750 People’s Choice Award one day after receiving the $1,500 first place prize at the 38th annual Arts in Action festival’s Windermere Masters Sand Sculpture Classic.
Laws of physics aside, Jara was as surprised as anyone else about how his art worked.
“I really didn’t know if it was going to hold up or not, to be honest,” Jara said with a laugh as he stared at the arching mermaid figure he created at Hollywood Beach.
“I was pushing my luck.”
Jara, a Cleveland resident who most recently worked with 40 other sand artists in Belgium, competed against seven in this year’s Windermere Classic at City Pier.
