Hampton Beach Sand Sculpting Classic 2024: Check out the sculptures and who won

HAMPTON — David Ducharme said the inspiration behind his winning sculpture at the Hampton Beach Sand Sculpting Classic came to him in a dream.

"I had a dream a long time ago about Sofia," said Ducharme of the Greek goddess of wisdom. "…I was touched by something in that dream."

Ducharme, of British Columbia, Canada, took home first place and $6,000 for his piece titled "Sofia's Cradle." The sculpture depicted the goddess with wings sitting on top of a nest "where wisdom gets nurtured."

The three-day contest sponsored by the Hampton Beach Village District wrapped up Saturday and featured a who's who of master sand sculptors from across the globe.

Ducharme was one of four new faces competing this year at Hampton Beach. Two other newcomers, Karlis Ile from Riga, Latvia, and Dmitry Klimenko from St. Petersburg, Russia, also won awards. Ile won fourth place with his piece "Open Your Mind & Awaken Your Inner Child," and Klimenko took home second with his sculpture "A Step Beyond."

They were joined in the contest by six returning favorites, including last year's winner Me?lineige Beauregard, who came in third this year with her piece "Inception."

Beauregard said her sculpture was inspired by how life is "linked through DNA and all of nature."

"The egg is like the cradle of life... melting point or start of all life," she said.

Sculptors had to brave what one called "Hampton Beach weather," a heat wave at the start of the contest on Thursday and rain during the last hour on Saturday.

"The heat didn't bother me as much," Beauregard said. "I'm kind of used to it. The rain in the last hour was really annoying because that is when I'm doing a lot of details (on the sculpture)."

"It's Hampton Beach," said Karen Fralich, of Ontario, Canada. "We are used to it. We are used to the weather changing every 15 minutes. "

Fralich took home the People's Choice Award, voted by beachgoers, and the Governor's Award, selected by Gov. Chris Sununu, for her piece "Artio, The Bear Goddess."

"It's very close to me because it represents the strength of mother bear who fiercely protects the earth," Fralich said of her piece honoring the Celtic bear goddess.

"And… I just think bears are so super cool. It was fun to carve."

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Hampton Beach sand art imitates life

Several sculptors said the inspiration behind their pieces came from life-changing events in their own lives.

Ile said his piece "Open Your Mind & Awaken Your Inner Child" was inspired by his 20-month-old son. The piece shows a toddler playfully sitting on his father's head.

"My son is like a nice troublemaker," he joked. "He makes my head sometimes ache. When you have a child, you become very serious because you have to take care of him and think about the future, at the same time. … I wanted to play with those two emotions. The child is playful and happy, and the man is very serious like me. It's kind of a self-portrait."

Bruce Phillips, of San Diego, California, said the inspiration behind his piece "Imprisoned" is those struggling with mental health issues. The sculpture showed a skull surrounded by three panels.

"The person is trapped, feels trapped," he said. "I have some friends who are battling with mental health issues, and I'm sure I do myself. I think most of us do in some shape or form."

Carl D. Jara, who has the distinction of competing in all 24 Hampton Beach contests, said his piece "Orphan" was manifested by grief.

The piece shows a woman enveloped in smoke from two extinguished candles.

"This piece is about the loss of my parents," Jara said. "It's two candles extinguishing, and she is sort of enveloped in the smoke of… I don't even want to call it grief anymore… I don't have anything left in me. So, she is grieving, but not this open outward sobbing… she saves that for private."

Jara said it was "releasing" to put his emotions into his artwork.

"I just wanted to dig in," he said. "I wanted to see what the sand was capable of doing… For me, this was almost a release..."

The sculpture won the Sculptors Choice Award, voted on by those competing in the contest.

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New sculptors impress at Hampton Beach

Beauregard, who also won the Hampton Beach contest in 2022, 2020, and 2019, said it was "awesome" to see new sculptors compete.

"We have so much new talent, they are not new to the industry, but new here, and they are very good sculptors. They inspired me and pushed me to do my best."

Sculptor Andy Daily of Sarasota, Florida, has been sculpting for years but made it a full-time job in 2020. This was his first time competing at Hampton Beach.

"I enjoyed myself a lot," he said. "This place reminds me of Clearwater and Venice Beach. There are a lot of people, stores and bars and nightlife with people out exploring."

Daily's piece was titled "Skin Deep," depicting a mermaid of a larger stature.

"When I first got here, I thought it would be fun to do a bigger mermaid," he said.

He said his piece was a statement on the "many limitations" on what some put on beauty.

"I know some pretty ugly beautiful people, if you know what I mean," he said. "And I know some beautiful not so attractive people. That's why I did it."

'Sand Wars' wows Hampton beachgoers

Prior to the three-day contest, sculptors worked on the "Sand Wars" sponsor site with the tagline “May the beach be with you.” It featured Darth Vader, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Emperor Palpatine.

The sponsor site also included a homage to the championship winning Boston Celtics and a sculpture honoring the memories of longtime Hampton Beach business owners Jake and Maura Fleming.

The Flemings were a dynamic duo at Hampton Beach for decades. Jake, as the face and jack-of-all-trades of the Hampton Beach Casino for 40 years, and Maura, the energy and smile behind the Purple Urchin restaurant.

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According to the event organizer Greg Grady, the piece was sculpted by Abe Waterman, a talented sand artist from Prince Edward Island, Canada.

“Both were great people who did a lot for Hampton Beach,” he said. “They have the respect of many people here.”

All the sculptures will remain up through June 26 and will be lighted for nightly viewing.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton Beach NH Sand Sculpting Classic 2024 winners