Amanda Bolduc was born and raised in beautiful Maine, Amanda received a degree in Psychology from Univ. of Maine, Farmington while working for the Maine Army National Guard. After graduation, she worked in the field of H.R. until 9-11 and decided to make the Army her full-time job and became a Combat Engineer Officer. This was all well and good until the babies started coming. She hung up her M16 for a new role, a “homeschool mama”. Fast forward 13 years and she still is homeschooling one of her three children.

Amanda Bolduc's sand sculpting journey began on the beaches of Florida. During family vacations she would attend sand sculpting events year after year, and in 2006 finally decided she wanted to try it herself. Armed with nothing but a shovel and a bucket, Amanda, along with her mother, set to work creating her first sculpture.

She quickly realized that sand sculpting was not as easy as it looked. It took hours of hard work and determination to create a sculpture that was both aesthetically pleasing and structurally sound. But the satisfaction of hearing the crowd’s reaction, made her realize this first sculpture was worth all the effort.

Since then, Amanda has gone on to compete throughout the U.S. at Semi-Pro competitions and recently moved up the ranks to Master Sculptor! Additionally, Amanda started carving snow in 2015 and competes annually at the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Championship in Lake Geneva, WI along with fellow sand competitor Bruce Peck and Dan Belcher.

Bouke Atema started out in the profession of carpentry. Studying decoration and restoration stimulated him to be more creative.

This led in to the world of sand sculpting in 2002.

He started with local festivals and competitions and expanded to a global profession.

Bouke lives in the Netherlands is passionate about nature photography. His website is BoukeAtema.com

Bruce Peck was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri (Home of the Stanley Cup!).

His freshman year of college studying architecture scared him far away from the arts, into a lifelong career as a CPA. A move to the Gulf Coast of Florida near some of the top ranked beaches in the U.S. gave him the opportunity to use sand sculpting as a path back to his love for art.

It all started right here in 2014!!

In just his second sand sculpting competition, Bruce won First Place in the Amateur Division of the American Sand Sculpting Championship. That win is what ignited a new passion for competitive sand sculpting!

Sculpting over the past five years at the Advanced Amateur level has been mostly an education through trial and error. The camaraderie and festival atmosphere have kept him hooked to this magical art form.

With several wins in the past couple years, the time has come for Bruce to compete against the best in the world at the Master Level!

Carl Jara “I’m actually a pretty simple guy, when I'm not hanging out with my amazing daughter, I enjoy woodworking, gardening, food, a good book, and beer.

I have two of the most envied jobs in the world; exhibits creator for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and professional sand sculptor.

I’ve earned the opportunity over the last 32 years to travel the world, win six dozen or so medals, and to work with and compete against almost every sand sculptor in the business, many of whom have become like family.

I create sand sculpture because I worship it, it is my spiritual experience. It is my opportunity to illustrate the profound changes, moments, and efforts of my own personal narrative and it gives me great pleasure to be able to share it with you.”

Craig Mutch is from Canada and is a seasoned artist of many hats; sand, snow and ice sculpture, travel photography, pumpkin/wood carving and body painting. Sand sculpture is his prime medium which takes him all around the world on special sand events: Middle East, Europe, Asia and USA. Snow and ice sculpture -Whistler BC; GMC, 2010 Winter Olympics, Coca Cola.

Craig and his doubles partner were the overall first place winners at the Crystal Classic 2012 and 2nd Place winners 2018-2019. He is currently working in the film industry as a set artist/sculptor on feature films such as ‘Planet of the Apes’. CraigMutchCreations.com

Isabelle Gasse Born in a country with harsh winters, it was with her hands in the snow and ice that she approached monumental sculpture, in order to sow a little more poetry in the world and allow herself to question it.

Working in several national and international events, including the Quebec Ice Hotel and Carnival, she alternates the snow suit for sandals and short pants at times!

It is therefore, with her heart inked in ephemeral art and natural materials, that she ventures (among other things) into the sand.

Thank you for welcoming me to your idyllic beach.

Maxim Gazendam started sand sculpting in 1998 by coincidence after taking part in a workshop. A few months later he participated in the International Sand Sculpting Competition in Scheveningen and over the years his love for sand became bigger and bigger.

After graduating at the Technical University of Delft in The Netherlands in 2005 (Master of Science of Architecture) he now works full time with sand, snow and ice.

He started his own one-man-business under the name puremaxim.

Over the years he still participates in various international competitions and festivals. You can follow him on Facebook and Instagram under the name: puremaxim or on his website, puremaxim.com.

Morgan Rudluff is a beach-loving born an’ raised California girl who serendipitously stumbled into sand sculpting in 2007.

By 2011, she was traveling full time, appearing on TV shows, giving media interviews, professionally competing, and spreading general joy through art and creativity to people far and wide.

Rudluff considers herself to be quite privileged and very lucky to have been able to make a living doing such fun unique work, and still to this day, is grateful for the opportunity to travel and be creative.

In 2018 Rudluff made the complicated choice to put sand sculpting on the back-burner and focus on a new career in the healing arts. She now currently works full-time as a massage therapist splitting her time between her private practice in Oakland, CA and as a massage therapy instructor at the San Francisco School of Massage & Bodywork.

Rudluff 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!”

When not doing massage or sand sculpting, Morgan spends her time in the Bay Area taking improv classes, working in her garden, and going to see live music.