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 Amazin' Walter and Christy at the Sons of the Beach and with Kirk Rademaker of Santa Cruz as Team Trowel and Error.

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)