They Come in Peace
Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel
Invaders From Mars. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It Came From Outer Space. The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Think of all the science fiction movie classics that kept us glued to our seats in darkened theaters watching aliens from other planets landing on Earth.
SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel wondered What if that really happened? Would the space aliens be like us? Would they be friend or foe?
At the beach one day we got a glimpse into that when we had a close encounter with the Low Tide Aliens.
Fortunately, they came in peace.
Like the gangster-style, sunglass-wearing Blues Brothers, who turn out to be musicians, these aliens are artists – Laura, Leslie, Darla, Kaitlyn and Mila – and their goal is “to bring joy and beauty into the world.”
Twice a month, when the tides are lowest, the artistic team heads to Newport Beach to draw mandalas – Hindu and Buddhist spiritual patterns – on the sand.
It’s a way to express themselves and to connect with the earth and ocean. Creating the mandalas is also a way to meditate and heal. Toward this end, the Low Tide Aliens have launched a Sand Art for Causes charity to help others.
Even though the tides inevitably erase their creations, the artists aren’t sad. “It’s actually a very beautiful and humbling experience to do art for the sake of art alone,” they say. “It’s a practice in letting go and allowing nature to take her course.”
You never know where the Low Tide Aliens are going to show up! At the Surfrider Foundation’s International Surfing Day in Huntington Beach this summer there they were.
“The event was abducted by our good friends from the Low Tide Aliens,” Tony Soriano, Surfrider’s HB chapter advisory board director, told SurfWriter Girls. “We love their artistic beach talent.”
While they were there, the beach artists even made a Surfrider surfboard to commemorate the day.
Wherever they land, beach-goers are invited to watch the sand art take shape or to sign up for a session and join in the experience.
So, don’t be afraid if you encounter the Low Tide Aliens.
Just say: “Take me to your easel.”
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Great article!! I had no idea this was happening. Very cool. Going to make a point to find their work! Thanks for sharing!!