Abe Waterman – Canada
Abe has a long history of playing with sand, even as a child he would spend hours digging around in his sandbox, eagerly searching for the treasures his cat Humphrey had so thoughtfully left there for him.
‘Amazin Walter’ McDonald – South Padre Island www.amazinwalter.com
Born in Orange, TX, Dec. 1941, Walter resides in South Padre Island, TX. At age 11 or 12, he sat on a creek bank at Boy Scout camp, when a kid next to him said “watch this!” and dribbled a little tree made of wet sand. Walter was hooked and says “I am now the oldest sand sculptor in captivity…maybe.” He is founder and Grand Poobah of the Sons of the Beach, “a not profitable disorganization dedicated to having fun, helping others have fun, and unlittering (to properly dispose of more garbage than you generate). Sandsculpting has taken over my life!” During his 30+ years at South Padre Island, he has taught thousands how to build a better sandcastle, organized sand events, and competitions, and has an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
Carl Jara – Ohio www.artcleveland.com
What can I say about sand sculpture, it is real. It is an impossible feat, often under impossible conditions, by people with impossible talent. Made for you, right before your eyes. It’s not a magic trick, or a special effect, or 3-D computer graphics, there’s no internal lattice, or special additives, or mirrors. It’s just sand and water, and we’re just doing what we do, what we love to do. We do it for you, so you can experience it with us…sharing our passion, our gift, our drive. Like music, or dance, or theater, or dinner, you are here, now, with us, and we are giving you something you cannot imagine, that we can’t explain and that you won’t forget. By the way….Hi…I’m Carl…and I make stuff.”
Chris Guinto – Florida www.sandisle.com
Tirelessly roaming the world desperately hunting a rival equal to the challenge, Chris, the ‘Comeback Kid’, has given up. Unlike the usual competition Chris doesn’t compete for medals, fame and riches…he creates sand sculptures that simply align the planets and create world peace. He won the Nobel Peace Prize twice. Here at Sand Castle Days 2011, comeback has finally found the competition that he craves for, and he comes here for only one reason…to dominate. You see, Chris didn’t sell his soul to the devil, the devil sold his soul to the Chris.
Dan Belcher – Missouri www.ampersandworkshop.com
Since his first professional sand sculpture project in 1990, Dan has created numerous projects across the country and throughout the world, including: Italy, Japan, Australia, and the U.A.E., for a wide range of companies and clients. Dan has a Bachelors degree in Landscape Architecture from Kansas State University. He continues to work in the Architecture/Engineering field as an Urban Designer in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.
Edith van de Wetering – Netherlands
Edith, a talented carver, studied architecture and urban design at Technical University Delft. She has been a sand sculptor since 1993 and has worked on massive sculptures in China, the Netherlands, and Italy. She has a special preference for fastidious and fine detail work.
Joo Heng Tan – Singapore www.sandworkz.com
Joo Heng Tan, a Singapore native, has mastered coaxing giant masterpieces out of mere grains of sand. Trained in graphic design, Joo Heng began sand sculpting as a hobby in 1997. Two years later he was invited to international sand festivals and competitions which eventually led to a full blown career. Receiving accolades and awards propelled Joo Hen to the status of master sand sculptor. He is recognized for his technically demanding, original creations, and outstanding designs described as “powerful” with “dynamic movement and strong themes.”
Karen Fralich – Canada www.sandqube.com
Karen is a professional multimedia sculptor. Her passion for sculpting in many mediums led to a career in sand. She began sculpting small clay animals in 1983, at age 14, in a pottery studio in Guelph, Ontario. In 1994, a professional sand sculptor hired her to help on a sand sculpture in a local mall. Immediately addicted, Karen spent the next 4 years learning the rudiments of sand sculpture. By 2001 she was working full time as a freelance sculptor. She also collaborates with several sand sculpture companies in Canada, the USA, Mexico, Italy, Holland, Spain, Japan, and Australia.
Kirk Rademaker – California www.kirkrademaker.com
It is said: “Dump 20 tons of sand at Kirk Rademaker’s feet and he’s a happy man.” Kirk is a “young” 59-year-old Santa Cruz Californian with a degree in painting. He has a construction background and was a cabinet maker before discovering sand sculpting and competing worldwide. He does events for, and with kids, from birthday parties to participating in L.E.A.P. (learning education arts program) as well as the American Cancer Society’s annual fun day for Courageous Kids and their families. Kirk has a unique sculpting style, his trademark is complicated machinery, nuts and bolts and gears, carved in great detail.
Lucinda ‘Sandy Feet’ Wierenga – South Padre Island www.sandyfeet.com
Lucinda, a former school teacher, has won a modest amount of international fame with her sand sculpting skills, competing at major events all around the world. She has taught thousands of people how to build better sandcastles in lessons, workshops, and team building exercises and has written three books on the subject, the latest of which- Sandcastles Made Simple – now in paperback. She opened what may well be the first and only sandcastle academy resort vacation rental on beautiful South Padre Island, TX. For her latest project check out sandcastletrail.com
Rusty Croft – California www.rustycroft.com
Rusty is a host of the Travel Channel’s SAND MASTERS show. Every week he travels across the globe with fellow artists in order to create unimaginable masterpieces from sand. Rusty began sculpting sand professionally in 1997 and has enjoyed international acclaim ever since. He has taken part in contests and festivals from China and Costa Rica to Germany and Japan, winning many awards and accolades along the way. After all these years Rusty still finds the most pleasure in traveling to new places, meeting new people and watching as they react while he creates something extraordinary from the ordinary.
Wilfred Stijger – Netherlands
Wilfred has training in sculpting and painting and has been a sculptor since 1989. He is owner of Stijgerart Productions, a 3D company opened in 2000, producing art with many types of materials, from natural to artificial. His talents include painting, animation, foam, sand, ice sculpture. He has participated, and won many awards in events worldwide.
Non Competing Artists
Suzanne Altamare – Asst. World’s Director Florida www.justplainsand.com
Suzanne’s father built her a fine sand box with a nice canvas shade and comfortable seats…even a cement slab bottom. But do you think she would come down out of the trees…especially mulberry trees…long enough to make anything more than the occasional tunnel or road for toy trucks during those long Pennsylvania summers? NO! It took the sight of a tall, muscular, bronze man with curly, golden hair sculpting Biblical sand sculptures with a hunting knife to draw her attention to sand. Her attention remained on him and the sand. Her mentor, the late Marc Altamare is gone, but her attention is still focused on the sand after almost 30 years of working in it. Favorite activity: Boogie Boarding/Obsession: cats
