What I’m making is essentially a big, dumb piece of public art. And in my sandcastle fugue state – which feels like a runner’s high – I find myself drawing out parallels between sandcastle building and the creative process.

At first, it’s mostly digging.

Kids will approach to ask “How did you do that?” I lift up the shovel and say, “It’s easy. You just need a big shovel.” What I mean is that most of the work isn’t technically difficult, but you do need a basic tolerance for shoveling sand.