Keith Wilson

Sand Painting Artist

Keith Wilson is a local Brisbane sand painting artist. He has developed the unique art of using coloured sand as a medium to create wonderful, authentic and original artwork. All of Keith’s sand is 100% natural, blending beautifully to represent the Australian environment.

Traditionally, sand paintings were often called ‘dry paintings’ because ‘fixing’ the sand proved to be quite challenging. This meant that sand paintings were usually temporary art. Over 30 years ago, Keith perfected a technique to ‘fix’ the sand. Now, sand paintings are permanent and durable. Keith’s artwork can be enjoyed and appreciated for many years to come.

Many of Keith’s paintings capture the ruggedness and beauty of the Australian landscape. The diversity in the colours of sand provide a varied palette to create depth, shadow and texture in his paintings.

In addition to landscape painting, the natural coloured sands are ideal for any image that looks great with a sepia tone. Historic buildings, Australian animals and tall ships are part of Keith’s work and reflect his love of sailing, woodworking and appreciation for the Australian country.

If you have a favourite photo that you would like ‘painted’ in sand, contact Keith to discuss a commissioned artwork.

For many years Keith ran stalls at school fete’s where children could fill bottles with coloured sands or buy their own coloured sand paining kit. The coloured sand bottles were all so different and had such variation, kids would come again and again to create their own little sand scene. A limited number of kits are still available for purchase.

Watch Keith Paint With Sand

Coloured Sand Art

The Navajo Indians created sand art pictures for healing purposes. These pictures were temporary, created by a Medicine Man, and belonged in sacred ceremonies that were thought to remove illness and re-establish harmony in a persons life.

Other forms of sand painting have been used by Tibetan Buddhist monks, Japanese artists and Indigenous Australians. Around the time of King George III, coloured sand and coloured sugars were used to create pictures on white tablecloths at royal banquets, by artisans called Table Deckers. This skill became known as ‘marmotinto‘ and is thought to have been based on the traditional Japanese art of ‘bonseki‘. The sand was brushed with feathers to create unique table decorations. These were initially temporary but over time the artists worked to ‘fix’ the sand so the sand pictures could be appreciated more than once. The process was however not very enduring and the pictures only lasted a few years.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Flemish people used white sand to decorate floors in their houses for celebrations. The sand was swept over tiled floors using a broom to create patterns for the day of the celebration and then swept away the following day.

Today, Keith uses all natural coloured sands, sprinkling grains to create his unique and rare sand paintings.