Despite suffering from an inflammation of the brain that made him deaf and severely hindered his ability to communicate, artist Andrew Clemens made unbelievable sand art that still manages to amaze viewers well over 100 years after his death in 1894. Not only is the imagery in these works incredibly detailed and sophisticated for the time that they were rendered, but they have survived the years intact without using any glue, just sand packed tightly into sealed bottles. Considering the time that these works were made, Clemens couldn’t just pick up colored sand at his local craft shop. He collected the colorful sand himself from an area near his home in Iowa called Pictured Rocks, where the sand was naturally colored by iron and mineral staining. The ambition and tenacity that must have gone into the production of these works is truly inspiring.

You can see more of Clemens’ work on the Friends of Andrew Clemens Facebook page and some of his works that are up for auction at Cowan’s Auctions.

[via My Modern Met]