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Sculptures in the sand sure to impress
Sandsations
competition
comes to Long
Beach July 23
LONG BEACH, Wash. — Sand-
sations, a sand-sculpting
competition and exhibition,
will take place Saturday,
July 23. Participants of all
ages and levels of expe-
rience will build fantastic
creations, while racing
against the incoming tide.
Sculpting starts at 6 a.m. and
inishes at noon. Spectators
are welcome.
“It’s amazing to watch
teams of all kinds create
these magniicent displays
from tiny grains of sand,”
said Karl Hintz, Sandsations
chairman. “The results are
always fascinating, at times
humorous, sometimes mean-
ingful, always creative.”
T he
Frank lin
A partm ents
2016 FEATURED MASTER
SAND SCULPTORS
Ed Mah is a long-time sand sculptor from Seattle. For
years he carved with the Legendary Orbital Sand-
ers Team. This year, Mah will carve with a team put
together by Michael Velling. An architect and wood
carver (known for his Northwest native-style wood
masks), Mah’s style is wide ranging.
SUBMITTED PHOTO BY RAGAN MYERS
Russ Leno is retired engineer living is Shelton. He
carves just about anything. He is an experienced
sand carver, chainsaw wood carver, snow and ice
carver, and perhaps best known as the pumpkin
carver at the Washington State Fair.
A humorous sand sculpture
imagines unloosing a stream
of water on an unsuspecting
victim.
The buildup to the event
began July 19, with tons of
beach sand dumped at the
Bolstad approach in Long
Beach. Master sculptors,
including Ed Mah and Scott
Dosch, can be seen carving
now through Friday, July 22,
with their creations on dis-
play through July 24. People
are encouraged to vote for
their favorites.
The action moves to the
beach on Friday afternoon
with free sand-sculpting
lessons at 5 p.m. and late
registration from 3 to 6 p.m.
Weather permitting, after
the lessons there will be a
bonire, s’more kits for the
irst 100 people, a dance
SUBMITTED PHOTO BY RAGAN MYERS
A car buried axle-deep in the sand is a familiar motif of sum-
mer tourism on the Long Beach Peninsula. This sculpture from
the 2015 Sandsations puts a fun spin on this theme.
Lisa Donze is a graduate of Olympia’s Sand in the City
contest. She carves sand, snow and ice and works with
Exconicus producing art instruction materials.
The contest takes place at
the shoreline adjacent to
the Long Beach boardwalk
and near the Bolstad beach
approach. Masters will begin
building at 6 a.m., and teams
and solos will start at 8 a.m.
— all racing the incoming
tide and waves, before they
sweep the beach clean.
More free sand-sculpt-
ing lessons will take place
at noon as judging begins.
Winners and prizes will be
awarded starting at 1 p.m.,
when the people’s choice
award for the downtown
sculptures will be an-
nounced.
There is also a full lineup
of entertainment scheduled
at the pavilion on Bolstad
from noon to 6 p.m.
Registration fees range
from $65 for masters to $1
each for children under 12.
“At the end of the day,
watching the incoming
waves slowly wash the
beach back to a blank canvas
is perhaps equally impres-
sive,” added Hintz.
For event details and on-
line registration, visit www.
sandsationslongbeach.com
Eric Hawley’s introduction to sand sculpture was as
a spectator at the World Championship in Harrison Hot
Springs, British Columbia.
His interest sparked, he
started asking questions,
which got him in touch
with Bert Adams. Since
then, he’s been carving
on teams and as a solo
master. Hawley’s day job
is as an elevator mechan-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
ic for the University of
Eric Hawley is a master sand
Washington.
sculptor.
on the boardwalk from 7 to
10 p.m., and a ire spinning
exhibition at 10 p.m. to wrap
up the evening.
For the main competition
on Saturday, buckets, shov-
els, trowels, forms and water
will be used to transform
simple sand into massive,
imaginative sculptures.
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Scott Dosch is the last full-time “Sand Busker” in the
USA. Traveling the country carving sand at crowded
beaches and getting paid by tips, he carves sand into
mermaids, children and veterans. Scott is looking
forward to having three days to carve something big.
Expect his piece to be a crowd favorite.
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FEATURED TEAMS
Form Finders is headed up by Amos Calendar and
Jim Butler, both graduates of the Olympia Sand in the
City. Form Finders usually makes wonderful vignettes
that tell a story. As an eight-person team, they move
a lot of sand and will ill out their plot. Expect laugh-
ter to come from the crowd around their plot.
True Grit is a new team put together by long-time
master sculptor (and past World Champion) Michael
Velling. True Grit features sculptors from several
teams around the Northwest. What they will make is
a big secret; expect it to be popular.
The Jessop Family has been moving up the ranks,
from novice to intermediate, and this year to the
masters category. Expect castles with a message.