2012 Northwest Sand Festival | 7
Sue McGrew
Craig Mutch
Tacoma, WA - Sue McGrew hails from Tacoma, WA, located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 2008 with a BFA in Theatre Stage Management, and a minor in sculpture. Her first taste of sand sculpting was in high school, after which she found herself hopelessly addicted to the ephemeral arts and immediately continued her sculpting career after college. Her early introduction to sand makes her possibly one of the youngest professional sand sculptors, currently, in the world. She has appeared on Travel Channel’s reality television show “Sandblaster III - The Extreme Sand Sculpting Competition” in 2008, and is a sculptor on Travel Channel’s current reality TV show “Sand Masters.” Today she travels the world creating art with her partner Sandis Kondrats of Latvia as team SANDISSUE, working mainly with sand, snow and ice. Her most recent awards in competition are first place in Texas Sand Fest 2012, second place in the Windermere Classic in Port Angeles, WA, in 2011, and first place doubles with Kondrats in Siesta Key, FL, in the Crystal Classic in 2010.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Craig Mutch is a master artist who wears many hats, some of which include: sand sculpture, ice, snow and wood carving, as well as professional photography for over 25 years. He has worked competitions and international events around the world, producing private and public works for large shopping malls and special event productions worldwide. Sand is not the only medium he has mastered — snow, wood and ice sculpting are just as exhilarating. In 2008, he participated in a three-city, six-week ice sculpture festival in Europe. Mutch worked with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada, and in 2011, produced a Megamind log carving for the movie industry. Since then, he has traveled extensively around the world, participating in sand competitions and corporate events. His most recent assignments were in the Middle East, India and the Mediterranean. To see more, go to craigmutchcreations.com.
Morgan Rudluff
Brett Stocker
Davenport, CA - Morgan Rudluff is a vibrant, young, firecracker hailing from the North Coast (rural) region of Santa Cruz, CA. Buried deep in the mountains among the cows, hawks, feral kittens and butterflies, she maintains a smoldering level of “sha-zamm.” A bit of a performance ham, Rudluff has dabbled in street performance, and has made a name for herself on the Travel Channel’s reality show “Sand Masters,” which highlights the adventures of a team of internationally traveling sand sculptors. Known to some as an “explosion of fruit, spices, and exotic-urban-experimental tastytreats,” she never seems to lack self or viewer satisfaction. If Rudluff were a dark-chocolate truffle, she would be the one in its own special box. When not sculpting sand, Rudluff can be found designing, sewing and scrapping together custom clothing and costumes. She believes in the power of the word “YES!” and will sing it at the top of her lungs. In addition to sewing, she also loves to garden, drink martinis, wax philosophical, and boogie on down with her bad self. More information can be found at Facebook: MorganRudluffArts
Santa Anita, Los Cabos, Mexico - Born in Kenya, East Africa, Brett Stocker lives in Mexico and owns The Minimountain Resort at the Rancho de la Sierra private estate. He met Joe Maize, who invited him to the U.S. Open in Imperial Beach, CA, where they won. Two months, later they took the Architectural prize at the World Championships in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia. Brett continued doing contests and exhibitions. He was invited to participate with 80 carvers from around the world in a Guinness World Record attempt for the largest and tallest sand sculpture in San Diego, CA. He has competed in the Canary Islands, Canada, United States and Mexico, and placed in numerous contests. Additionally, he has competed in ice and snow carving in Canada, Russia and the United States.
JEFF STRONG Tacoma, WA - Sand sculpting is an avocation for Jeff Strong, whose main profession is computer programming for the University of Puget Sound. He began sand sculpting 12 years ago when he met and began training with master sculptor and Federal Way, WA, resident Michael Velling. Strong likes to emphasize the improbable magic of sand sculpture, and his compositions often incorporate open space within the piece. He does not shy away from humor, but he is especially interested in artistic form. You may have seen Strong on KING-TV, Northwest Backroads, or competing recently on the Travel Channel’s “Sand Wars” broadcast. His first solo awards came in 2004, when he placed first in the semi-pro division and won the People’s Choice award in Seaside, Ore. His solo sculpture of a dragon devouring a sand sculptor went viral on the Internet, and for some time was the first photo returned by a Google search for sand sculpture. The sculpture won third place in the 2005 Canadian Open Sand Sculpting Competition at Parksville, British Columbia, Canada, and the People’s Choice award. At Harrison Hot Springs in British Columbia, Canada, Strong competed in five World Championships, and when the event moved to Federal Way, WA, in 2010, his team won second place. Last year, his “Chamber Music,” a tall gravity-defying hollow shell with a dancer hidden in plain sight, garnered a solo medal in the Tournament of Champions in Federal Way, WA.
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