36 | DECEMBER 17 • 2020

W


hen local artist Gail
Rosenbloom Kaplan’s
community and person-to-person
professional immersion came to a
halt because of COVID-19 restric-
tions, her talent and innovation
aimed her in a new direction. She
turned her focus to the
creation and sales of
multi-colored, multi-de-
sign, Do-It-Yourself
(DIY) sand art sets.
“The kits came to
life as a result of the
pandemic and not being
able to continue my job
at Children’s Hospital
of Michigan, where I
do bedside art and also
my work in the schools,
camps and the com-
munity,
” Kaplan said. “I
retreated to my studio
to develop the new kits
as a way to stay engaged
with bringing art to

people to do on their own.
”
The boxed-set selections are
offered in various shapes and sizes
for both kids and adults — from
superheroes, astronauts and butter-
flies to Judaic themes like a set of
chamsahs and Chanukah designs,
including a pair of 3D dreidels.
Each kit has 10 colors of sand and
a sticky board with a laser-cut image
covered with removable stickers. As
each sticker is removed, the sand
sprinkled on it will stick only to that
section. Excess sand is then poured
back into a working-cup and the
board is ready for the next section.
“
A sticker on the outside of the pack-
aging is an example of the final art
project,
” Kaplan said. “By choosing
their own color application, no two
projects are the same.
”
Referring to Kaplan as both tal-
ented and creative, Jodie Krasnick of
Huntington Woods said, “It’s great
to carve out some relaxing time to
do Gail’s sand art projects and so
fun to see the final product. My kids

(now 19, 24 and 26) have done art
projects with Gail since they were
little at family workshops, for Jewish
holidays and yad-making for their
bar and bat mitzvahs.
”

ARTIST IN THE BLUE SMOCK
Kaplan began designing sand art
projects for her children 35 years
ago and, in recent years, brought
her ideas to workshops, corporate
events, fundraisers and other large
gatherings. But the idea for selling
the DIY kits came when she realized
this was a type of art that could
be done in small groups without
her being present, offering sim-
ple, YouTube instructional video
demonstrations for each new kit on
her website.
For the past nine years, she also
brought the project to Children’s
Hospital of Michigan, working there
twice a week — with patients and
their siblings — through a grant
for healing arts from the Children’s
Foundation.
“
As ‘artist in residence’ I had the
opportunity to educate and engage
patients by teaching them how to
make art, exposing them to new
artistic techniques,
” Kaplan said. In a
small studio at the hospital, children
joined her to paint T-shirts and do
sand art, something she described
as calming, healing, distracting and
empowering for the kids.

Pandemic challenges result in fun DIY
art options and gift items.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Sands of a


New Time

ABOVE: Gail Rosenbloom

Kaplan TOP LEFT: Multi-

colored DIY sand art elephant.

TOP RIGHT: DIY sand art

unicorn.

ARTS&LIFE
DIY