A few days ago Bob spotted a truck dumping sand at the top edge of the beach north of here. A couple of nights ago, we saw a few people gathered around a sand sculpture. A woman said to me, "It happens every year around this time." Because the scuptures weren't finished, we knew the sculptors would be back.
Many tools in her belt.
And sure enough, we found them at work this morning. What happened was a bigger story than the one we discovered this morning. The sculptor said the the owners of the home behind the sculptures comissioned him and his wife to create a sculpture for a wedding on their property a couple of years ago.
A sand sculpture for this property.
The owners liked the scupture so much that they commissioned the scuptor and his wife to create a scupture every year at the beginning of the holiday season for people on the beach to enjoy. What a generous idea I thought.
We raised seven children the couple said. This is our new career. Go to Treasure Island if you'd like to see a global sand sculpture competition.
And so off we went today. It turns out the humble scuptor and his wife have quite a life behind them. Together Dan Doubleday and Meredith Corson created Sanding Ovations, a company that has sculpted commissioned pieces for the NFL Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, the Outback Bowl, Budweiser, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Frito Lay, SeaWorld, Disney World and Busch Gardens among others.
According to their website they travel the world creating sand sculptures for hundreds of clients each year. Between the two of them they hold 15 World Champion medals and have won or placed in every major competition they have entered. Their sculptures are emotional, thought provoking and often striking in their simplicity or at the other end of the spectrum, incredibly detailed.
They didn't tell Bob and I any of this. All they said was that they like their office (the beach). They organize the annual Treasure Island Sanding Ovations Masters Cup Competition and the annual Revere Beach Massachusetts National Competition.
The Team
Dan Doubleday was discovered sculpting on a beach in Santa Cruz, CA. His technique was so advanced that he was invited to his first master event just months later.
He entered his first World Championship in ’96 where he won the coveted Sculptors Choice award, being the first North American to ever take that honor.
He now holds 8 World Champion medals. Dan constantly pushes the envelope with new ideas and strives for perfection in human anatomy.
Meredith is a World Champion Gold Medalist and has the honor of being the first female ever to win a medal at the World Championships.
Raised in New Bedford, MA, Meredith relocated to Florida in 1980 and started sculpting sand as a hobby. In 1996 she met Dan Doubleday at a competition.
You stumble upon the most amazing people when you walk out your front door.
A Selection of sculptures from the Sanding Ovations Competition:
1.
2.
3. This is Dan's sculpture.
Dan at another competition.
Other examples of sand sculptures.
I hope you have enjoyed these as much as we did. Tomorrow I have a Spanish class with my Guatemalan instructor. Bob and I both have a bug of some sort and want it to be gone.
Best thoughts. Be well.
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