John Suchomlin

Born in Ukraine in 1886, then part of the Russian Empire, he became involved in revolutionary politics and fled to Germany in 1905. He arrived in Australia in 1911. He started doing sand scuptures in the mid 1920s. At Manly he molded themes from the Old and New Testaments, bathing beauties, mermaids and famous visitors to Manly by using sand, water, paint and the kalsomine color wash to add hardness to the sculptures. He charged a small admission fee to view the works and sold photographic postcards of the sculptures. He also sand modelled in the UK and the USA.