Abe Waterman; the less you know, the better.

Francisco is a Mexican sculptor originating from Zapopan, Jalisco. He is a graduate of the University of Guadalajara in Visual Arts. As part of his artistic development, he has participated in numerous events in different states of the republic and abroad; with individual and collective exhibitions in various galleries, cultural centers, academic institutions, interventions in public spaces, forums, exchanges, contests, cultural festivals and television shows. Since 2008, he has been involved in sand sculpture as an independent artist. He permanently shows his work on the Malecón of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico which is considered a tourist attraction for the city. He is currently internationally recognized for his artistic work and is the founder & CEO of Arte Calvillo art production house which is dedicated to the design and manufacture of sculptural and scenography elements for the decoration of events and establishments, as well as various sand art services.

After studying at the art college in Moscow, Ilya worked as a jeweler/goldsmith designing and making jewelry for 7 years. While working as a jeweler he started making ice sculptures and found he enjoyed the combination of traveling and sculpting. He quit his jewelry job and continued to study sculpture for 6 more years at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute of Surikov. He has been sculpting sand since 2005 while traveling all over the world. He has taken part more than 150 international sand sculpture events around the world.

Jakub started sand sculpting on beaches of south Spain while traveling in 2003. In 2005, he participated in his first international sand sculpting festival in Portugal. Since then, he has been sculpting sand at sand events all around the world and has won several prizes in competitions.

John Gowdy is a retired captain of The Atlantic City, NJ Fire Department where he served for 27 years. He was also an Atlantic City beach lifeguard for 7 years. He has been sculpting internationally at the professional level of sand sculpture for over 30 years in many countries such as: Italy, France, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Austria, Peru, England, Canada, Qatar, to name a few. He and his wife Laura were invited guests of Pope Francis in The Vatican and sculpted sand in Saint Peter’s Cathedral. They have also carved on the beaches of Normandy, France for The White House in remembrance of the D-day landings.
In addition to sand sculpting, John also sculpts marble and paints portraits of famous people to their music in a performance called “Flying Colors”. He has studied Fine Art and Physics at Stockton University both of which have complimented his work in sand sculpture.

Karen was introduced to sand sculpture while working in a pottery studio in 1994 and immediately became addicted. 31 years later, the love affair continues!
In 1998, she entered her first international sand sculpting contest and by 2001 she was working full time as a freelance sculptor travelling all over the world. She specializes in fantasy and whimsical themes but loves to sculpt just about anything!
To date, Karen has competed in over 160 Masters Level International sand sculpture contests and won many titles, including 30 First Place Titles and 5 World Championship titles. In addition to her busy competition schedule, Karen organizes many sand sculpting events in Canada. The Canadian National Exhibition, the Pan Am Games and Parks New Brunswick are a few clients. She was also the lead consultant and one of the judges on all 4 seasons of the hit CBC series “Race Against The Tide” from 2021 to 2024.
Her work takes her around the world, collaborating with sand sculpture companies and friends in 14 countries and counting. This will be her 24th year competing in the Solo division, she is very honored to be a long time member of the Neptune Festival family!

Matthew Deibert has been a World Champion Sand Sculptor and Professional Sand Artist since 2000, owner of Sand Creation LLC. He loves creating works of art out of sand for all types of events, as well as educating future sand sculptors through classes as well as corporate team building events. He enjoys performance art through sand sculpting.

Matthew holds a BFA from Stockton University 2025 in sculpture and a BA from Mercyhurst University with a graphic design emphasis 1989. Matthew is also a retired Professional Firefighter where he had numerous advanced rescue training. He finished his career as acting Battalion Chief, overseeing the entire training department.

Matthew has been carving sand now for 25 years. He is married with 6 children, three of which, Ian, Matthew Jr, and recently Liam have been carving and competing with Matthew for the last 10 years. Sandcreation has created sand sculptures around the world. Born and raised in the birthplace of professional sand sculpting, Atlantic City NJ, that is where the company carves most of its events. But traveling is an added benefit to sand sculpting. Matthew had the honor of carving soldiers for the sixth anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France.

He won People’s Choice at the World Championship in 2001, returning the next year and winning First Place – Team in the World Championship. Since then, he has competed in many other contests where he has won or placed in the top three. Matthew and his son Ian won “Sand Wars’ in 2012. “It is such a privilege to carve alongside my sons.”

Maxim Gazendam (1981, The Hague) is a Dutch artist with a master’s degree in architecture from Delft University of Technology. While studying, he unexpectedly discovered the art of sand sculpting—an interest that evolved into his profession. In 2005, he founded Puremaxim, blending architectural clarity with expressive visual storytelling.

Maxim’s designs cover a broad range of themes, from social commentary to historical scenes, and are always recognizable by their clean lines and structured composition. Over the years, he has created large-scale sand sculptures around the world and received multiple international awards for his work.

He has also led teambuilding workshops for over 10,000 participants, sharing his passion for sculpture in an accessible way. Since 2019, Maxim has been co-organizer of Europe’s largest sand sculpture exhibition in Garderen, The Netherlands. In this role, he not only creates his own pieces but also curates and coordinates entire exhibitions with international sculptor teams.

Follow Maxim via Instagram and Facebook @puremaxim or visit http://www.puremaxim.com.

Morgan Rudluff is a beach-loving California girl who stumbled into sand sculpting in 2007. By 2011, after a lot of hard work and growth, she was traveling full time, appearing on TV, professionally competing, and living that good life.

In 2018 Morgan made the complicated choice to focus on a new career. She now works full-time as a massage therapist splitting her time between her private practice in Oakland, CA and being an Instructor of massage therapy at the San Francisco School of Massage. Morgan is (obviously) still sand sculpting, but just part-time now. She considers all her years as a sand sculptor to have been instrumental in how she approaches bodywork: “Both of my careers have been equal parts art, design, science, composition, education, adaptability, attention to detail, creativity, intuition, and absolute love for what I am doing. Plus, I usually get to work barefoot doing both!”

Morgan spends her free time sculpting a little clay, gardening, embracing fabulousness, and going to see live music. She is a proud dog-mom to two small supermutts named “Quincy” and “Trooper”. They are the source of much laughter and love.

Peter Vogelaar has been an artist for over 50 years. He has found his niche in the ephemeral arts, working in sand, snow, and ice all over the world, and together with his talented teammates, has won many prestigious awards. He enjoys coming to Virginia Beach to reconnect with the worldwide sand family and create pieces which resonate with the viewing public.
Keep on smiling!

Vadim was born in 1987 in Belarus. From 2006 to 2012, he studied at the Moscow State Academy of Arts Surikov. Since 2010, he has participated in international exhibitions and festivals of sand and ice sculptures. 2019, he was the organization and artistic leader of the sand sculpture festival in Minsk “The Age of Myths. Spirits and Gods of Belarus.” Since 2019, he has been the Chief Artist in collaboration for inclusive adaptation of museum exhibitions for the main museums (Russian Museum, Hermitage, Pushkin Museum, Kremlin museums, etc.).

Slava Iemelianenko is a Ukrainian professional sculptor who was born in 1971 in Crimea. He studied sculpture at the Kharkiv Art Academy (KSADA). Slava has participated in many international sculpture projects and festivals since 2009 in countries such as Ukraine, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Colombia, Indonesia, and others. He has also had several solo exhibitions of bronze sculptures. He works with materials such as sand, snow, ice, concrete, metal, stone, wood, and plastic.

Craig Mutch, Canada
Craig is an artist who wears many hats, some of which include; sand sculpture, ice, snow and wood carving, painting as well as professional photography for thirty years. Originally an illustrator and graphic designer from the Edmonton Journal in Alberta, he changed his career goals and set out to the West Coast in search of broader horizons. From there, he worked in the cruise ship industry for fifteen years as a lab manager/photographer/artist. He now resides in Kitsilano, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ten years later, there was an itch to get back to his artistic side and joined mutual friends in various sand sculpting events in the Vancouver area. This led to sand sculpting jobs/competitions and soon to international events around the world, and producing private works for large shopping malls and special event productions worldwide. Sand is not the only medium he has mastered – snow and ice have been just as rewarding. In 2008, he participated in a three city, six week ice sculpture festival in Europe. In 2010, he worked within the 2010 Winter Olympiad in Whistler. In 2012, he was the artistic director for the largest ice and snow project in Whistler BC – a private three hour party- taking five weeks to complete.
In the past twenty years, he has traveled extensively in Europe, Middle East and the USA, participating in competitions and corporate events. His most recent assignments were in the Middle East and the Mediterranean for sand sculpture, photography and creative design. It is the travel and new mediums that inspires his passion as an artist – the institution of sculptors around the world is invaluable. He is currently working in the film industry as a set artist/painter/ sculptor.

Joaquin Cortez, USA
Joaquin Cortez is a lifelong visual artist based in North Texas, whose creative journey spans from traditional art mediums to the immersive world of sand sculpture. With formal training in computer animation from the Art Institute of Dallas, Joaquin’s artistic path took a transformative turn during a beach vacation in July 2014. It was there he encountered the Amazin’ Walter, who gave him a life-changing lesson in sand sculpting that sparked a newfound passion.

Inspired and deeply moved, Joaquin made the bold decision to leave his day job and devote himself fully to the ephemeral art of sand sculpture. His journey has taken him thousands of miles—to beaches, festivals, and events—where his intricate creations have captivated audiences, evoked heartfelt reactions, and attracted media attention.

Fueled by a childhood dream of inspiring others through art, Joaquin continues to carve his path forward. Explore his work at http://www.joaquincortez.com.

Nikolai Torkhov, Russia
Sculptor Nikolai Torkhov was born in Moscow on March 6, 1981. From 2006 to 2012, he studied at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov at the Russian Academy of Arts (faculty of sculpture). The diploma work “Sniper” was awarded a grant from the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Since 2016, Nikolai has been a member of the Union of Artists of Russia. Since 2000, he has been a regular participant in all-Russian and regional exhibitions, as well as a participant in more than 100 international art projects in more than 35 countries. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Ryazan Art Council. In 2020, he embodied in bronze the image of one of the main characters of the city of Ryazan, “The Ryazan Kosopuz.” The sculpture found its place in the city center in Novoslobodsky Square. Nikolai’s creative works are in private collections in Russia and abroad. The sculptor works with all traditional materials (bronze, stone, wood), as well as with unusual several materials such as sand, ice and pumpkin, bringing the traditions of the Russian school of sculpture to street art.

Wiaczeslaw Borecki, Poland
Slava is a freelance sculptor with over 30 years of experience. After graduating, he worked in the Sculpture Department at the Poznań Academy of Fine Arts. Since 1996, he has taken part in numerous sand, snow, and ice sculpture festivals and competitions around the world, earning multiple awards. He also works with bronze and stone. His artwork has been featured in both solo and group exhibitions across various European countries.

Sanita Ravina, Latvia
Sculptor. Painter. Designer. Sanita has taken part in professional sand sculpture competitions and projects for more than 15 years, has worked on ice projects and taken part in competitions for more than 10 years, and has tried out snow and straw materials for the last 6 years. In times between sculptures, Sanita is painting, creating, designing graphic art and running her tattoo place. She has participated in many international ice, sand, snow, and straw sculpture projects in different places in the world, winning many awards along the way. Follow her works on – instagram.com/sanita.ravina

Agnese Rudzite Kirillova, Latvia
In her art works, Agnese mainly works in sculpture, which is directly connected with her education. In 2007, she graduated with her master’s degree in sculpting at Latvia’s Art Academy. During those years, she had personal exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions, art projects, symposiums, festivals, and contests in Latvia and abroad (Japan, Vietnam, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, USA, Kuwait, Cabo Verde).

As a sculptor, she works with many different materials – welding metal, fiberglass, concrete, Styrofoam, ice, snow, sand, wood,  bronze, aluminum, stone, some combined materials as well as fire!

Most recently, she has worked a lot with “short-time materials,” like ice, snow, sand, and fire. That has given her the opportunity to realize her ideas in monumental sizes, while travelling around the world and introducing people to her art. However, her favorite material is metal and welded metal, because it allows her to turn the hardness of big objects to lightness and transparency, while at the same time, keeping the practical resistance. One of the most popular themes in her artworks is women – their emotional differences, reactions to surrounding environments and fixing the well-known icons. Another big influence on her creativity comes from nature – different shapes of nature and what can be shown as straight feedback to realism as like abstract objects.

Yoshiko Matsugi, Japan
At present, there are only three internationally recognized professional sand-sculpture artists in Japan. Perhaps because of its extremely physically demanding art form, Yoshi is the only female artist among these three. After she graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts with MFA, she moved to Kuroshio-town, Kochi in 2002, on the Pacific Ocean where beautiful sand beaches extend. Initially, she moved there because she wanted to live near the beach to surf.

While she was working as an art instructor at a local high school, she was drawn into the creative fascination of sand sculpture in 2008. She has been actively participating in events held in Japan since 2010, and international competitions since 2018 as a professional artist. It is her dream to pursue sand events everywhere in the world to create her sand sculptures.

Bogdan Kutzevych, Ukraine
Bogdan Kutsevych is an architect and sculptor from Kyiv, Ukraine. He has studied at both the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv, and the Welch School of Architecture in Cardiff, Wales. Today, Bogdan is active in both fields; architecture and sculpture.
Since 2014, he has been participating in numerous international sculpting events. His sculptures have been awarded many times, and are often created with materials such as ice, snow, sand, and straw. The main themes in his work underline the ephemerality, fragility and impermanence of everything in the world, and he often refers to topics like love, relationships, life, war, peace, nature and wonders in his work.

Brian Wigelsworth, USA
A professional sand sculptor for the last 22 years, Brian is the creator of the Siesta Key Crystal Classic International Sand Sculpting Festival and has attended the Neptune Festival International Championship for the last 11 years, placing third three times, and took first place once with his business partner Andy Daily. They own SandVenture Crew LLC based out of Sarasota. Brian is also the creator of the mini speed sculpting show called “Quick Sand” that many enjoy watching here at this event. He is proud of being one of the only sand sculptors that he knows of that has arranged a professional fashion show on top of a 70-foot-long sand sculpture catwalk, which he and his team did at Siesta Key two years in a row for Margaritaville Clothing Company. Brian has recently been employed as a full-time in-house Sand Coordinator for the new Evermore Resort in Orlando, FL. A resort dedicated to families and the only beach resort in Orlando, located just outside of Disney World.

Dan Belcher, USA
Dan has been creating professional sand sculptures since 1990, learning from many pioneers of the art form, and now collaborating with a family of many of the best and most talented sand sculptors from around the World.
During this time, he has won 14 world Championship in the Team, Doubles, and Solos categories, and competed in scores of other contests and hundreds of professional projects across the USA and around the world including Japan, China, Denmark, Italy, Australia, Great Britain, Brazil, and many other wonderful destinations. He loves the balance of the physical and creative sides of working with sand. He is also a licensed Landscape Architect with a degree from Kansas State University.

Dmitrii Klimenko, Russia
In 2004 Dmitrii graduated from Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design with a Master’s degree in  department of Monumental and Decorative sculpture. That same year, he started to carve sand. After almost twenty years of participation in many international championships, he is still learning and discovering new methods to work in this wonderful medium. He also works with ice, snow, bronze, wood, and pumpkins! He has taken part in international festivals of sand sculpture in Japan, Russia, Canada, USA, Kuwait, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Poland, and Latvia. “It is wonderful to have the possibility to grow, and I don’t ever want to stop to working with sand.”

Jonathan Bouchard, Canada
Jonathan, aka “Jobi,” studied in graphic design and went through a few art courses. He started sculpting as a young boy working with different mediums such as wood, clay, snow… And just never stopped doing it. He had the opportunity to work professionally with sand and ice in 2007, adding those two mediums to his work. Jobi loves the idea of making a living from playing in sand in summer and snow in winter, just like when he was a kid! Today, Jobi is performing in sand since over 15 years and has the utmost respect from fellow competitors as a very creative and competitive person. His ideas are unique and well performed. He travels the world making sand sculptures for commercial events and has competed in many competitions.

Wilfred Stijger, Netherlands
Wilfred started sculpting sand on the beach of Katwijk, where he was born, after reading a book by Pieter Wiersma. His work impressed him a lot. After receiving many good reactions from the people passing by, he joined the sandsculpture festival in Scheveningen. There, he met Gerry Kirk, sculptor, and he invited Wilfred to work with him. Through his network, he was invited to festivals and competitions. Now, he travels around the world to give people beautiful sculptures in sand, snow and ice. One day, he hopes to organize his own festival.

Edith van de Wetering, Netherlands
“When I was young, I hated sand between my toes, but now I could not live without it.” Edith started sculpting sand through her architecture education at the Technical University. Participating in the sand sculpture festival in Scheveningen started as a hobby but got out of control very fast. She has now been traveling around the world to build sand, snow and ice sculptures for over 20 years.

Andrew Daily, USA
Andrew started carving sand in 2011 on a date with a woman he really wanted to impress. It was an eye-opening experience! Getting deeper into sand was a mixture of luck, opportunity and willingness to learn more. What he loves about this art is how it’s ever evolving, improving. New artists, techniques, and textures are always raising the bar to new heights and the results consistently leave him in awe. His gratitude is only surpassed by his admiration for his fellow artists.

Greg Grady, USA
Greg is a self-taught sculptor from New Hampshire whose love for sand sculpture has been shaped since childhood. A family man, Greg enjoys life with his long-time girlfriend, their son, and two stepchildren. As a 2nd generation sand sculptor whose journey in sand began in his youth, where he spent summers building with his father on family vacation. His early years spent shaping sand on the beach sparked a lifelong dedication to the craft. Over the years, Greg’s natural talent and “Irish luck” would have him apprenticing under some of the world’s top sand sculptors, allowing him to refine his skills and travel across the U.S. and beyond.

For more than 15 years, Greg has had the privilege of turning his love for sand into a full- time career, creating intricate and awe-inspiring sculptures for every type of event imaginable. A true believer in the magic of the medium, Greg loves the challenge and the creativity of working with sand and its transient nature. He feels blessed to be part of this vibrant tribe of sculptors and to contribute to the ever-evolving art form.

Find his work online at ItsJustSand.com and on IG @ItsJustSand_Sculpture

Franziska Agrawal, Germany

German industrial designer Franziska Agrawal transcends the borders of the worlds of art and design. Her works are influenced by concepts of concrete Art and minimalism to match logic and beauty – creating geometric order, comprising the reduction to the maximum to attain ‘aesthetic essence’, which is attained when nothing more can be taken away, and all that is left is what it is. The concept follows design and mathematical principles creating systematically clear object structures. Coming ‘directly from the mind’ – it’s about balance and the transformation of what is. She works primarily Site specific with natural and ephemeral materials, dealing with matters of attachment, detachment and temporariness of existence in time/public space. Interested in large scale Installation, it’s intervening monumentality with the human body and inter-dimensionality within a place to create transformative awareness for perspective change. An ephemeral experience and permanent effect.

“The goal of concrete art is to develop objects for spiritual use, much as man designs objects for material use.” (Max Bill)

Ludo Roders, Netherlands
Ludo Roders comes from the Netherlands, where he graduated from Rotterdam Willem de Kooning Art Academy. Not long after his study in painting, drawing, and print techniques he got in touch with the world of sculptures of sand, ice, and snow. Ever since, he has been developing his skills and broadening his view by participating in festivals and competitions all over the world. In the winter of 2021, he was the winner of a Dutch Television show called Ice Masters – a competition on TV between six ice sculptors with four episodes. In 2023, he participated in a Canadian TV show: Race against the Tide. Two amazing experiences that he will never forget. His sculptures are sweet symbioses of dream and reality. They breathe a magical and poetic atmosphere, something that is also often to be found in his paintings that he creates in his studio. Visit his website if you want to see more: http://www.ludoroders.com or go to his Instagram @ludoroders

Marie-Line Gagné, Canada
Marie-Line Gagné, is a dynamic artist fueled by boundless creativity and a love for the whimsical wonders of nature. Since 2017, she’s been carving her path, quite literally, in ice, snow, wood, and sand, transforming dirty logs, frozen landscapes and sandy beach shores into vibrant masterpieces that capture the public imagination. She had been seen surfing her professional waves not only on national and international competitions, but also on tv reality shows with her funky participation at Race against The Tide season 3. With every stroke of her chisel and every grain of sand, she continues to spread joy and wonder with her ephemeral art, proving that sometimes, the best way to leave your mark on the world is to sculpt it with a smile.

Isabelle Gasse, Canada
Hailing from Québec, Canada, Isabelle Gasse was nudged into finding her artistic destiny at the tender age of 16, thanks to an art teacher that encouraged her to compete in a local amateur snow sculpting event. A fast-rising professional in the snowy and icy art, she’s been shaping her frosty fantasies in worldwide events, Ice Hotel of Quebec and Sweden among other, and brought home several awards. Since 2021, in a move from snow suit to sandals, she swapped her ice-carving gadgets for beach bum toolkit and is now bringing her well-mastered style in many sand events across north America and Europe. Monumental and ephemeral sculptures is a way for her to sow a little more poetry in this world and pay homage to its fascinating complex simplicity. She combines a passion for both sculpture and movie production, both disciplines she’s been studying and developing a career in. It led her to develop her conceptual storytelling, artistic style, merging emotion, sensuality and surrealism.