Master Solo Sculptors

Damon Langlois is a Canadian sand sculptor and designer known for his competitive work at major international sand sculpture events, including Texas SandFest. He is a five-time World Championship of Sand Sculpting winner and has competed at the master level for decades. Langlois gained widespread attention in the competitive sand sculpture world with his 2019 Texas SandFest entry Liberty Crumbling, The piece, depicting a facepalming Abraham Lincoln, has continued to be one of the most shared sand sculptures from the event and remains among his best-known competitive works. In addition to his competition achievements, Langlois was the creative director and engineer that set the Guinness World Record for the tallest sand castle in 2015. Built with the Sand Sculpture Company and partner sculptor Ted Siebert, the structure reached 45 feet, 10.25 inches, pushing technical limits for vertical sand sculpture at the time. Langlois is also the author of Stories in Sand: The Arabian Nights, a book that pairs his photographic documentation of large-scale works with rewritten and shortened versions of tales from The Arabian Nights. The book stems from his work as creative director of the Remal International Festival in Kuwait, one of the largest sand sculpture parks ever made. For the project, Langlois led research and artistic direction for a team of sculptors carving scenes from The Arabian Nights across a site roughly equivalent to six football fields. Throughout his creative career, Langlois has balanced competitive sculpting with other creative pursuits, including product design and artistic work beyond sand. His competitive record and presence at major events like Texas SandFest have made him a respected figure in the contemporary sand sculpture community.

Bruce Peck was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. It only took a year of studying architecture to scare him far, far away from the arts, into a lifelong career as a CPA. That career took him all over the U.S. and Canada and kept the left side of his brain on overload. For almost three decades, his most artistic endeavor was clipping coupons from the Sunday paper. Then he moved to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Playing on some of the top ranked beaches in North America turned out to be his path back to a lost love for creating art ... especially three-dimensional art! Now a master sculptor competing alongside the best in the world in sand and snow, Bruce travels far and wide using his detailed, expressive style to infuse deeper meaning into his creations. Sculpting has ultimately led Bruce to become one of “all y’all”! That’s right … He is now a Texan after recently settling down in Houston!! He placed in the medals here before and considers his time at Texas Sandfest the highlight of the year! Be sure to wish him luck again this year!! Mitch is going on his 10th year as a sand sculptor and due to his full time work as a sand sculptor he has decided to become a professional artist and pursue art as a career. This will be his second season as a lead member of the S.W.A.T team at the Texas SandFest! In October of 2023, Mitch decided to walk away from a 23-year desk job as a senior website designer to pursue his love for this art form and his love for art in general. When he is not competing, Mitch likes to teach sandcastle lessons to tourists on Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, Florida. As a 4th generation artist, he also loves to draw, paint and use clay to create sculptures. Then, he moved to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Playing on some of the top-ranked beaches in North America turned out to be his path back to his lost love for creating art. Sculpting has ultimately led Bruce to become one of "all y'all"! That's right...he is now a Texan after settling down in Houston last summer. Bruce has been competing against the best in the world at the Master Level for a few years now. He placed in the medals here before and considers his time at Texas SandFest the highlight of the year! Be sure to wish him luck again this year!

Creativity is an essential need for my survival as breathing, food, shelter, friendship and coffee are too. Art is my soul’s workout, providing meaning to my life and sculpting is the way I found to get me that piece of paper called money that we collectively put a powerful value on. Nature is my ultimate muse, whispering ideas into my thoughts, and helping me reveal what’s hiding in the medium itself. I’m on a mission to shape smiles and openly bring reflection on those who witness my Art.