October 20, 2002    A visitor to my site saw the pictures on this page and was diligent enough to find out the artist's name and the details from an article which was published in Ocean City Today, August 26, 2002. 

  The artist's name is Randy Hofman. He is an ordained minister.  He creates four to five new sculptures each week as an outreach of his ministry, using only his own hands and a simple plastic knife (supplied by a near-by restaurant for 'picking crabs') which is good for defining "fine lines and sharpening images".  The sculptures are preserved by a process of spraying them with a light solution of white glue, but after no more than one week, they dry out and deteriorate and are replaced with new work.. (1)

  Mr. Hofman has a site (www.randyhofman.com) that shows many more examples of his work, as well as examples of a more lasting art form; for he is also a painter of note.  According to the article, the artist has been producing the sculptures for about 20 years.  He also gives away more than 50,000 booklets of Bible quotes every year to passerbys that are drawn to the sculptures. (1)  

  When he first began his ministry, he worked alone and had to dig deep to find the moist sand necessary for sculpting before a sculpture could be begun. Now days, the Plim Plaza Hotel, 2nd St. and Boardwalk, which is just across from where Mr. Hofman does his sculptures, supplies him with water and with electricity for lighting the sculptures at night.  As you might imagine, each sculpture needs a huge amount of fresh sand.  Young people who are attending SonSpot, an outreach mission in the area, assist with the digging and preparation of the sand. (1)