201905.11
0

San Clemente man sculpts Mother’s Day tribute in sand to honor his mom — and all other mothers

by in News

DANA POINT — Mother’s Day has always been special for Jay Bellamy.

“To me, there’s only one love that comes close to the love of our Heavenly Father and that is the love of a mother,” he said.

So this weekend is especially meaningful for Bellamy.

Saturday, May 11, his mother, Joan Greenwall, would have turned 90. And Sunday is Mother’s Day.

  • San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy puts the finishing touches on a giant heart with roses as he builds a tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

  • San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy builds a tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

  • Sound
    The gallery will resume inseconds

  • A group of young girls watch as San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy builds a giant heart as a tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

  • San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy hauls water to his labor of love as he builds a tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

  • A group of people watch as San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy builds a giant heart tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

  • San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy builds a tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

  • San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy builds a tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

  • San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy, left, takes a moment to say a prayer with Julie Pergson as he builds a tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

  • San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy cools off as he builds a tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

  • A small crowd gathers to watch San Clemente resident Jay Bellamy build a tribute to all mothers Saturday, May 11, 2019 at Baby Beach in Dana Point. The sand sculpture, one of many he’s done in the past few years, is especially near and dear to him because his own mother passed on May 11. This year she would have been 90. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)

of

Expand

To honor his mother — and all other mothers — Bellamy, on Saturday, created a 12-foot sand heart adorned with a single rose at Baby Beach in the Dana Point Harbor and held a ceremony, inviting the community to bring a single rose in tribute to their own mothers.

“My mom was my best friend,” Bellamy said Friday, through tears. “I got to take care of her for the last five years of her life. I’m so grateful I got to do it. I rest in the salvation that she turned her life to Jesus at age 83 and he took her home two years later. She was always there for me no matter where I was. Even with tough love she never let me go.”

Sign up for our Coast Lines newsletter, a weekly digest of news and features on how the residents of the SoCal coast are building ties to their changing environment. Subscribe here.

The Mother’s Day tribute is one of several Bellamy has created in the last two years. In January, the San Clemente man drew a crowd at Baby Beach when he sculpted giant praying hands. The hands, he said then, represented an effort to heal a divided nation.

On Sept. 11, he dug up sand for three hours, creating replicas of the unforgettable images from that tragic day 17 years earlier — the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93.

Bellamy drew attention at Baby Beach at Easter, last year, when he sculpted a crucifix with Jesus, then again on Memorial Day, when he built a battlefield cross on the beach to honor service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

The artist has been building sand sculptures for a decade. His first was a dolphin at San Clemente pier, which he created as a tribute to his younger sister, who died near the pier on Dec. 23, 1995, when she was struck by a train.

Each time, he has drawn dozens of onlookers.