I have been serious about carving sand since 1985 and I entered my first "Masters" competition in 1987. I continue to compete at the world championship level and have written three books on the subject of sand sculpting. I am willing to take a shot at carving just about anything someone might want to see carved in sand, but I do have some areas where I feel more comfortable - if you will - than others.

My Specialties

Castles - For many years castles were pretty much all that I carved and I can do one that will elicit lots of "oohs" and "ahs" in not much time at all. Furthermore, I can include an incredible amount of detail even on a very small scale -- my hand-carved "SanDrops" fit in the palm of your hand. I also create custom centerpieces of sand - a great alternative to ice. In the past decade or so I have expanded my horizons considerably and carve many different subjects -- but I am still terribly fond of carving castles.

Logos - I also have a talent for duplicating logos, names and line drawings in sand. This is a helpful skill for a sand sculptor to have as most sponsors want to see their names prominantly displayed somewhere on the sculpture.

Instruction - I love competitions and I even place in the money sometimes, but I am realistic enough to know that I will never be the best sand sculptor in the world. I do however feel that I could have a shot at being the best sand sculpture teacher in the world - were there any way to measure something like that. I started offering sand castle lessons right around 1990 and have taught literally tens of thousands of folks how to have more fun in the sand, and I believe I have a real talent for explaining and demonstrating a variety of techniques for "making sand stand."

While most of my lessons are with families, tourists visiting my home beach of South Padre Island, and school and adult groups, I have recently begun to explore workshops and instruction in the form of corporate team building exercises. I work solo but also team up for larger groups with the Sons of the Beach.

Related Skills

Writer - I have written three books - the latest and greatest of which is entitled "Sandcastles Made Simple," published in 2005 - and numerous articles on all facets of sandsculpting (Check out my tips for beginners!) I also maintain a weblog on various topics, including sand sculpture, called "Being Sandy Feet."

Webwiz - Traveling with a laptop computer and a digital camera enables me to update my pages from any hotel with a good connection... which gives people around the world the unique opportunity to watch a sand sculpture project as it develops. Some examples: Houston (7/97) and San Diego (9/97)