Jungle creatures and North Pole inhabitants came to life in sand this weekend at the Village Mall.
Sand Odyssey, a sand sculpting company, created a "Black Friday Bowl" scene in the Village Mall in front of Dillard's department store near the entrance of the mall.
The sculpture began with a six-foot Santa Claus in the middle facing off against a five-foot tiger on the left and a five-foot-tall elephant on the right.
Santa Claus' head was clad in the traditional droopy hat with big cheeks, twinkly eyes and a textured, realistic beard.
When the first sculpture developed cracks and fell apart, the artists built a second scene.
"Basically we had a stack of three forms each standing two-feet-tall, we carved and finished the top two forms," said Mark Flynn, master sculptor. "Then when we were finishing the lowest level form when large cracks developed and within 20 seconds the only thing left standing was the tiger's head on a pedestal."
In the second sculpture, Santa Claus was a foot shorter, and the tiger and elephant sprawled on the ground instead of standing at Santa's sides.
The piece incorporates the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday and the Iron Bowl.
"Black Friday falls on the same day as the Iron Bowl and we decided to have a little fun with it," said Terri Knight, marketing and specialty leasing manager of Village Mall. "We have had a sand sculpture in here four years ago and had great responses from customers who love the sculptures and watching the sculptors."
The sculpture began taking form Saturday as the sculptors molded and shaped the sand into recognizable figures.
"I enjoy sand sculpting," said Kevin Nall, assistant carver. "I like going to beach and making sand castles because it makes other people happy to see something they don't see everyday."
The attention to detail paid to the tiger and elephant made the two figures look as if they were about to shake off the sand and start roaming the mall.
"I think it looks cool," said Trent Burnette, mall customer. "It is for Black Friday so I like the idea of putting Santa, a tiger and an elephant together to give it multiple meanings."
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