Category Archives: sand sculpting

June 23, 2017

17th Annual Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Classic (Hampton Beach, NH)

Dates of Event: June 15 – June 17, 2017 (sculptures on display until June 28)

Location: 180 Ocean Blvd, Hampton Beach, NH

Cost: Free

Parking:

Effective May 1st – $2 per hour public parking. Pay at Pay Station and Must display receipt visibly on dashboard.

Handicap Parking – Handicap parking is available in any legal metered parking spot providing you have a Handicap Plate or a Hanging Handicap Tag hanging, or visible, in your front window.

There are also several parking lots (ranging from $5 to $20 a day) throughout the Hampton Beach area.

Handicapped Accessible: Yes

Dog Friendly: Yes

Highlights: Sand sculptures by master sand sculptures

Rain and chilly temperatures did not prevent master sand sculptors from playing in the sand last weekend at Hampton Beach.

The 17th annual sand sculpting competition attracted master sand sculptors from all over the globe. In case you missed the sculpting event, you can still view the sculptures until June 28 and they light the area at night so you can view them day or night.

Although all of the sculptures were worthy, only one could be crowned the champion.

First place went to Melineige Beauregard from Montreal Canada. Beauregard’s sculpture is called “Dance of the Undefined.” Melineige said her sculpture represents how we are constantly changing and yet some aspects of us stay the same.

Second place went to Abe Waterman from Prince Edward Island for his sculpture, “Get Out Of The Box.” He also won the “Sculptor’s Choice Award” as well as my vote! It had rained heavily the night before the sculptures were scheduled to be completed and, even though the sand is capable of withstanding some degree of inclement weather, his sculpture almost collapsed. You can see a “crack” or line in his sculpture which was caused by the heavy rains.

Karen Fralich, of Toronto, Canada, took third place with “Tiny Warrior.”

David Andrews of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, nabbed fourth place with “Hands Of Fate.”

Fifth place was awarded to Carl D. Jara of for “I Can’t Get This Out Of My Mind.”

The People’s Choice Award was won by Michel LePire of Quebec for “Seduction.” This was Michel’s last sand sculpting competition as he is retiring. he certainly went out with a bang!

Although they did not place, the rest of the sculptures were very creative and stunning. It must have been very hard for the judges to decide on the winners.

Justin Gordon, of Groveland, MA, created his sculpture, “Gazing Life Beyond”, as a tribute to his mother in the afterlife. Even though some of the other sand sculptures may have been more pleasing visually, I think Justin’s sentiment best.

Marc Lepire, of Quebec, dedicated his sculpture, “Grand Slam”, to his children and all fans of baseball. Can you tell by the number and team of the player who the person in the sculpture is?

Joris Kivits of the Netherlands sculpted Horizontalism.

New Hampshire resident Greg Hardy created he sculpture, “What A Lovely Way To Say You Love Me.”

There were also the sand sculptures of the sponsors of the event and a special sculpture dedicated to the New England sports fans!

As usual, there were lots of dogs at Hampton Beach to view this dog friendly event.

Vito (on the left) is a 10 year old Akita. Vivian (on the right) is a 9 month old Akita. Their fur was so soft!

Apollo, a 3 year old German Shepherd, is a gentle giant.

Zuzu, an 11 year old Beagle who was named after “Zuzu” from “it’s A Wonderful Life”, had her own wagon ride!

Bella, a 1 and a half year old Chihuahua, was all dressed up for her visit to the beach.

Roxy, an 8 year old English Pointer, is a sweetie.

Micky, a 7 month Apso Shih Tzu (also known as a Shih Apso), posed so well for me.

Tinkerbell, a 9 year old Yorkie, cooled off by a puddle.

Until next year, Hampton Beach! Okay, maybe sooner than that.

14 Comments | tags: beach, dogs, Hampton Beach, New England, new hampshire, photographs, Photography, photos, sand sculpting | posted in beach, dogs, Hampton Beach, new hampshire, photographs, photography, photos, sand sculpting, Uncategorized

July 25, 2016

2016 Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival (Revere, MA)

By New England Nomad

Dates Of Event: July 22-24

Location: Revere Beach, Revere Beach Boulevard, Revere, MA

Hours:

The hours of the sand sculpting festival were:

July 22 and Sat. July 23 from 10AM to 10PM and Sun. July 24 from 10AM to 8PM

Revere Beach is open 365 days a year

Cost: No Admission Fee

Parking: One website states there is free parking on Revere Beach Boulevard where the beach is located. But, I noticed signs said read there is a 4 hour parking limit on the boulevard during weekdays. Parking is free on the boulevard during weekends and holidays. If you can’t find parking on the boulevard there is a $5 parking fee at the Wonderland Greyhound (1300 North Shore Road, Revere MA). You can also park at Suffolk Downs (525 William F McClellan Highway, Boston MA) about 20 minutes away. A free shuttle can take you to the beach on the weekends There are literally hundreds of parking spots on the boulevard.

Time To Allot For Visit: About 30 minutes to an hour to view all of the sand sculptures

Dog Friendly: Yes, on the sidewalk but not on the beach

Highlights: Sand sculptures, pretty beach, long, well kept beach

Each year, sand sculpting masters come to Revere Beach from all over the world to test their skills at the International Sand Sculpting Festival. The family (and dog) friendly event is usually held the 4th weekend of July. In addition to the intricate works of art and pristine beach, there are also many activities and vendors for the entire family to enjoy. The theme of this year’s main sand sculpture pictured above was “Hands On The Wheel” (a not so slight jab at texting while driving I would gather) and the gracious sponsors.

Being the early riser than I am (have become), the shading and sun was tough to work with. It’s actually easier in some ways to shoot when the sun is higher or when there is cloud cover, I have learned.

The big winner in the solo competition at this year’s festival was Melinage Beauregard of Montreal, Canada, for her “Go With The Flow” sand sculpture. This is the second year in a row Melinage has won this competition. She won both the overall competition voted on by the audience and she also won the sculptors choice award which was voted on by the fellow sculptors.

One thing I have noticed about these impressive sculptures is the subtle things that still must take an inordinate amount of time to create but make a huge improvement, like grading on the side of a sculpture.

Second prize in the solo competition went to Italian sculptor Leonardo Ugolini for his work “Together.” Ugolini paid close attention to detail in his sculptuure. In the front, just above the astronaut’s head he etched “We Are Alone”. On the back of the sculpture, he etched “We Are Alone” backwards.

The third place winner in the solo competition was Guy-Olivier Deveau of Montreal, Canada, for his sculpture “Carcass.”

In the duo sand sculpting competition, the team of Dan Belcher of St. Louis, Missouri and Marianne van den Broek of Key West, Florida for their sculpture, “Body Art.”

One of the interesting things about this sculpture is there is supposed to be a hidden image if you look at it from a certain angle (straight ahead), As the arrow and instructions in front of the sculpture directs you, you should see a frog in the sculpture.

Do you see it? Me neither.

Second place in the duo competition went, appropriately enough, to Abe Waterman of Prince Edward Island, Canada and Morgan Rudluff of Santa Cruz, California for their piece “Le Numero Deux” (the number two). This sculpture looks innocent and harmless enough until you take a closer look.

Well, you get the jist of it.

Third place in the duo competition was awarded to Deborah Barrett/Cutulle of Saugus, MA, and her partner Steve Topazio of Tiverton, Rhode Island. They also took home the People’s Choice Award. As a side note, you may notice that some of the sculptures seem grainier than other sculptures, this is because it rained Saturday night and when I took the photos on Sunday there was a different texture to the sand. I included a closeup of the sand in this group of photos for a better perspective of how the sand looked.

The other contestants'(there were 20 contestants total including the duo and solo artists) sculptures are posted below.

“I Love You So Much” by Marielle Heesels from the Netherlands.

“Always Connected” by Pavel Mylnikov from Moscow, Russia.

“Peaceful Dreams” by Nikolay Torkov of Moscow, Russia (maybe not so peaceful dreams?)

“The Last Flight” by Benjamin Probanza from Acapulco, Mexico.

“Redemption” by Jonathan Bouchard (aka “Jobi”) hailing from Montreal, Canada.

“How They View Us” – an interpretation of the Statue of Liberty holding a weapon. This was the only sculpture with any inkling of a political theme.

“Fractal” by David Durcharme of British Columbia and Enguerrand David from Brussels, Belgium.

“Little Owl”by Paul and Remy Hoggard of Bulgaria.

They also held a children’s sculpting lesson activity for ages 5 to 12. I am sure there were some future sand sculpters in that class.

Dogs like the sculptures also. Revere Beach is a great place to walk your dog. The long walkway along the beach will wear out even the most active dog.

Here are a few of the cute pooches I saw during my visit.

Neelix is a 4 year old pure breed Keeshond. Neelix is named after the Star Trek Voyager character and he is so cool he even has his own Facebook page which you can like and follow here. I did.

Darby is a 14 year old Boston Terrier Lab.

Lucy is a 10 year old Labradoodle.

James, a 6 year old French Bulldog, preferred to ride with his mom on her bicycle.

Below is a short video of one of the sand sculptors working on his sculpture.

Please stop by my Facebook Page and like my page to view content not included in my blog. Thank you.

New England Nomad

Below is a video of the sand sculptors explaining their sculptures and what they mean to them.

16 Comments | tags: beach, dogs, Massachusetts, New England, photographs, Photography, photos, Revere, sand, sand sculpting | posted in beach, photograph, sand sculpting, Uncategorized

June 20, 2016

Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Competition (Hampton Beach, NH)

By New England Nomad

Dates of Event: June 16-18

Location: 180 Ocean Blvd, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire (an hour north of Boston)

Parking: There are about 100 to 200 parking spots in front of the beach – you pay at a parking metered machine. Or, you can find parking at parking lots on Ashworth St. The prices for parking vary depending on the season or month or when there is a special event such as the sand sculpting competition. In April, metered parking costs $1 and hour and it costs $2 an hour from May until Nov. Free parking begins Nov. 4. Parking on Ashworth St. can vary depending on the time and day during “beach season”. During my visit, parking was $10 in the morning but was increased to $15 in the afternoon for all day parking (until 2 a.m.) and $20 all day parking during the weekends in the summer.

Cost: The beach does not have an admission fee.

Dog Friendly: Yes, but not on the beach (at least not during beach season)

This time of year past 16 years, people flock to Hampton Beach to show off their sand sculpting skills. It may seem like child’s play. But, these are no run of the mill sand castles. They really are works of art.

It takes a long time to construct these complex sculptures. The photos below show the progression of the works of art. It’s hard to believe some of the photos of the works of art are the same as the final work of art. Some of these photos do not show the sculptures in their final phase.

“Emerge” by David Andrews (third place)

“Rising From The Abyss” by Guy-Oliver Deaveau of Quebec (first place and Sculptor’s Choice)

“She Loves Me” by Justin Gordon of Massachusetts (People’s Choice Award winner)

“Dada Read” by Carl Jara of Ohio (4th place)

“Let It Be Magnificent” by Mélineige Beauregard of Montreal

“Phoenix Rising” by Karen Jean Fralich of Toronto (5th place)

“Selfie In Sand” by Damon Langlois of British Columbia

“Hunters Of The Sky” by Michel Lepire of Quebec

“All Together Now” by Abe Waterman of Prince Edward Island (2nd place)

“It’s About Time” by Greg J. Grady of New Hampshire

There were also some sculptures that weren’t part of the contest like this sand castle (what would a sand sculpture contest be without one?) and a sand sculpture designed for the sponsors of the event.

There were some other cool things at the event like Ronald McDonald (ok, I said some cool things) and a cool car that was being raffled off.

Dogs love the sand sculpting competition also.

Tuckerman, a 9 year old Golden Retriever, looked like a teddy bear!

Caspian, whose name is made up of the first letter of his guardian’s relatives, is a 4 year old Siberian Husky. As you can see, he loved to be petted.