Master Duo Sculptors
It takes two to...sand sculpt?
Some say it takes two to make a thing go right...and these artists totally believe it and practice it! These teams of two join forces as a duo to be reckoned with as they tackle the sand together to make their artistic vision come ot life masterfully in the sand.
Chris Guinto & Melineigh Beauregard
"If you ain't first, you're last." This has been the family mantra sine granddaddy Guinto invented fire and Chris continues to carry that torch to this day. Evident in his sculpturesin which millions have made pilgrimages to wittness, words like "Supernatural", "Divine Providence" and "Number one on my bucket list" are often used to describe his sculptures. In a nutshell, as Chuck Norris once said: "Sculpting? I leave that to Chris Guinto". That was true until he met his nemesis, Melineigh Beauregard. It was at that point he truly understood he might not stand at the top of the food chain anymore. Opposites attract, and like fire and water, they've competed for the "King of the Hill" title, pushing each other to the extreme limits of their abilities. Sure enough, they ended up sharing he view on the top of the hill, because what is a Queen without her King? Chris and Mel are now living in Hawaii. Sculpting sand and roaming the world, offering crocodiles management assistance in countries of need. www.bgsandsculptures.com www.thecrocodilefoundation.org
Joaquin Cortez & Christy Atkinson
Joaquin Cortez, a lifelong visual artist from North Texas, with a background in traditional art mediums also studied computer animation at the Art Insitute of Dallas before he found his true artistic calling during a fateful beach vacation in July 2014. There, he received a transformative sandcastle lesson from "The Amazin Walter", instantly igniting a deep passion within him. Cortez's commitment was unwavering, without hesitation he left his day job behind to embark on a journey of travel and intensive training. Through thousands of miles traveled from beaches and fetivals creating in the sand, he captivated the publick with his awe-inspiring art, evoking coutless heartwarming reactions and garnering media attention. Driven by his childhood dream of inspiring others through meaningful art projects, Joaquin continues to carve his path forward, carving wood, stone and concrete. Christy enjoys making art in many different mediums. Sand is her favorite and Texas SandFest is her favorite place to compete. Christ has sculpted sand mostly with her dad, Amazin' Walter. They have been a winning duo for many years. This year (with Walter's blessing) Christy is partnering with fellow sculptor Joaquin Cortez and is thrilled to partner with such a great friend. When not carving sand, Christy earns a living as a family entertainer, balloon twister, face painter, juggler, electrician's assistant, sheetrock star, seamstress and jelly maker. She also loves to crochet, play the ukelele, Star Wars and her two cats Cleocatra & Farrah Pawcett. Christy also loves jokes, good or bad. Please share your favorite with her! Check out the video story on Texas SandFest and Port Aransas: Filmed in 2023 at Texas SandFest by "Small Town, Big Story" on YouTube.
John & Laura Gowdy
Laura Cimador Gowdy comes form Castelfranco Veneto, Italy. She is an elementary school teacher. Laura and her husband John Gowdy have teamed up in the competitive world of professional sculpture since 2007. They have won many awards as a two-person team in world-class sand events in Texas SandFest, Cervia (Italy) and Fort Myers Beach (FL. In 2011 they won the nationally televised "Sand Wars" professional sand sculpting competition in Siesta Key, FL. On April 18, 2018, John and Laura had the honor of being invited to the Vatican, Rome to personally meet Pope Francis and donate to him a sand sculpture that was carved inside Saint Peter's Basilica. In 2020, John and Laura participated in a realty show called "Race Against The Tide" in New Brunswick, Canada. John Gowdy is a professional sand and marble sculptor. His hometown is Atlantic City, NJ where he has served as a Fire Captain of The Atlantic Fire Dept for 27 years. After retiring in 2007, he met his wife and teammate Laura Cimador at a sand sculpting event in Jesolo, Italy. They married in 2011 and have been an international sand sculpting team ever since. Together they have won many master events and have placed in the top three places here at Texas SandFest in the past 5 years. They have carved sand for many clients such as The White House Commission of Remembrance, on the beaches of Normandy, France in memory of the D-Day landings, Pope Francesco, Saint Peter's Cathedral in The Vatican to name a few. Before meeting Laura, John has competed here at SandFest as a solo since 1999. "Over the years I have witnessed this event growing from a few solo sculptors to what you see here now. It's just unbelievable! I really enjoy coming back here year after year to the wonderful hospitality offered by the management, the excellent sand quality and simply put, the hometown feeling I get from everyone here in Port A!"
Joris & Seveline
To Seveline, art is an unlimited world to express oneself. Every form of arts offers a chance for self-discovery. As a child, she wanted to try everying: dancing, singing, drawing, painting, writing and carving. Eight years ago, her father and sister invited her to work with them on some projects and since then she has been carving sand, snow and ice around the world. Before Joris started carving, he worked as a freelancer in graphic design, art direction for movies and television, photography and as an illustrator. Nowadays, making sand sculptures has become his main work. In 2006, he participated in his first project in Lommel, Belgium. Making sand sculptures is like a theatre act; you can enjoy it if it is there and then the memory and pictures are the only things that remain.
Remy & Paul Hoggard
Paul (UK) found sand sculpture in 1991 on a beach in India and Remy (Netherlands) came from the European theme parks. In 2003 they met in a huge sand sculpture theme park in Belgium and have been inseparable ever since. Together, they run their company Sandartist Ltd and are full time sand artists who travel around the world doing what they love: creating with sand. They enjoy meeting and interacting with people to experience different cultures. The public will often come back to see the progress of their sculptures and have a chat.