Chainsaw artist swaps wood for sand on TV contest

A wood sculptor has said he "jumped at the chance" to swap his chainsaw for a bucket and spade to take part in a TV sand-sculpting competition.

Shane Green, from Otley, is a contestant on BBC Two show Race Against the Tide, which sees teams compete to create sand artwork, before the sea destroys it.

Known as the Yorkshire Carver, Green's sculptures can be seen across many public spaces, including RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate and Roundhay Park in Leeds.

Green said of switching to sand: "It's natural and it disappears. I thought there was a lot of beautiful things about it, and that's what attracted me."

Hosted by comedian Iain Stirling, Race Against the Tide was filmed on West Sands Beach in St Andrews, Scotland.

In the show, a novice to the craft is paired with an expert sand sculptor.

Green was in a team with Lisa Lindqvist, who he described as a "brilliant teacher".

Taking part in the show was "like going back to school, almost", he said.

"Mornings were the hardest. You had to get up and build your sand blocks. It was physical work - you were digging wet sand, building them up to 2m-plus."

Once the sand blocks were built, they could then start adding detail to their creations, Green said.

A retired art teacher, Green had an interest in sculpting since he was a student at Birmingham Art College in the 1980s.

It wasn't until a teaching exchange programme saw him swap West Yorkshire for Pennsylvania, USA that he embraced the chainsaw as his tool of choice, after meeting like-minded artists.

"From that day, I thought 'why work with mallet and chisel?' Life's short," he said.

"Since then, I've been juggling chainsaw carving on and off, sculpting, painting, drawing, in between the day job."

As well as producing sculptures for the public and private commissions, Green has previously represented Great Britain at international chainsaw carving competitions in America.

He was surprised to get the call inviting him on the sand-sculpting show, but said it was a "wonderful experience" - even if working with the new material was a learning curve.

Although "gravity isn't always on your side" he did not have "too many mishaps", he said.

"With wood, you can do magical things, you can hover things with an inch of material but with sand, if you undercut too much... timber, down it goes."

Green said he was considering visiting spots along the East Yorkshire coast and making sand sculptures for the public to enjoy - but they would "go out with the tide each day".

All episodes of Race Against the Tide are now available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.