< Previous17024334 Congratulations MONTHLY COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2023 81 KARENFLOWERS (409)789-7377 DAVEBRIDGWATER (409)392-5655 JOETRAMONTEREALTY (409)765-9837 Beautiful3/2.5/2TownCottagein prestigiousEvia.Greatcorner locationwithfrontandside porchesoverlookinggolfcourse. 2EIAMAIN FEREDAT $549,000 EVIAONGALVESTONISLAND Beautiful4/3/2homewithdouble porchesoverlookingthelakein prestigiousEvia.Custompool, mosquitosystem,sprinklersystem. 6CRIOLLACT OFFEREDAT $659,500 Crawfish , Kids Activities, Live Music, Resort Style Pool, Cabanas and onsite Bar and Grill! 9550 Seawall Blvd. Galveston, TX 77554 MARRIOTT July 4th Bash 9540 Seawall Blvd. Galveston, TX 77554 Scan here or Purchase tickets on ResortPass.com! Friday June 30th Lan Law Music - 6pm to 8pm Saturday July 1st Corey Stoot - 2pm to 4pm Lan Law Music - 5pm to 6:30pm NBC the Voice Season 17 Winner Jake Hoot - 7pm to 8:30pm 82 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2023 CURRENTS | ART ‘SUITED FOR THE JOB’ Island artist teaches the secrets of building sandcastles story by SARAH GRUNAU | photos by TOM WALKO E merson Schreiner, working in the family business, teaches next-level sandcas- tle building to tourists and islanders every week. His aunt began Sandy Feet Sandcastle Services in South Pa- dre Island more than 30 years ago. Schreiner started working for the company about 12 years ago in South Padre Island before deciding to step out on his own, he said. “It felt like it was time,” Schreiner said. “I was reaching a time in my life that I wanted a little more independence.” A western Michigan native, Sch- reiner now spends his days kicking around the island’s beaches and car- rying out his artistic visions through sand and paint. Galveston’s sand is unbeatable, and Texas beaches have ideal conditions for castle building, he said. “Texas beaches are perfect for sand castles more so than other beaches,” he said. “The sand here is suited for the job. “The grains here are very fine once you compact them. That makes it very nice and easy to carve the sand. Then we also have a relatively high clay content with the water, which means it sticks together.” That’s the secret to the best sandcas- tles, Schreiner said: grain size and a lot of clay. “If you make something on the beach, there is a good chance it won’t be there again tomorrow,” he said. “There is a certain beauty in that.” When giving classes, Schreiner finds a way to make castle building approachable, he said. “I am there to make sure people don’t get frustrated,” he said. “A lot of frustration is people don’t know how to compact the sand properly, which is the first thing I teach.” Mixing the sand in a bottomless bucket is a sure-fire way to prepare for a solid castle. “But it’s a little difficult to explain without seeing it,” Schreiner said. Schreiner teaches lessons year- round, and classes can be booked on the Sandy Feet Sandcastle Services website. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2023 83 Galveston artist Emerson Schreiner offers lessons year-round on how to build sandcastles. He started working for his aunt’s sandcastle-building business about 12 years ago in South Padre Island and decided to branch out. (Opposite) Schreiner teaches a group during one of his free sessions at East Beach in Galveston.84 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2023 HIGH TEA WEDDINGS & EVENTS SERVICE SPECIAL With This Ad expires 7-31-23 $ 69 409.925.8275 TACLBO22538E FINANCING AVAILABLE FREE ESTIMATES KEEP IT LOCAL! www.AffordableAirTX.com COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2023 85 M O M M I Ecfitec H I C A CLASSICALLY UNIQUE CHILDREN'S BOUTIQUE OQMoMMIECHICANDME.coM 501 EAST MAIN STREET #5 • LEACUE CITY, TX 77573 • 281.557.0336 • 10AM • 5:30PM, TUE· SAT START THE SCHOOL YEAR OFF RIGHT! SHOP OUR UNIQUE SELECTION OF OUTFITS, SHOES LUNCHBOXES, BACKPACKS, NAPMATS, AND MORE! 86 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2023 Reyna Montalvo, a College of the Mainland student, cre- ates art without the use of her arms or hands by using an iPad and Bluetooth-connect- ed stylus. (Opposite) With a stylus in her mouth, Montalvo works on a drawing of a penguin on her iPad. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2023 87 CURRENTS | ART SHE DOES IT HER WAY College student pursues artful life despite rare condition story by BARBARA CANETTI | photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS R eyna Montalvo was working on a piece of digital art — a portrait of a young man. She had drawn the face on her iPad and was adding tufts of hair. Some of the lines didn’t come out as she wanted, so she put a molded plastic, Bluetooth-connected Apple pencil back in her mouth, clicked a button on the display to erase and redrew the image with precision. She did it all without use of her arms or hands, which a rare medical condition has denied her since birth. Montalvo, who lives in Dickinson, paints and draws using only her mouth and some special tools. She was born with arthrogryposis, which means she can’t move her arms or legs. Her arms gently hang from her shoulders and her legs are in a permanent criss-cross posi- tion. She gets around in an electric wheelchair, guided by motions from her head. Montalvo, 21, an art student at the College of the Mainland in Texas City, aspires to be a character designer for video games, television shows, commercials or advertisements, she said. She plans to attend the University of Houston-Clear Lake in 2024 after she earns an associate degree in visual arts. There’s no cure for arthrogryposis, defined as a variety of non-progressive conditions characterized by joint stiffness and muscle weakness, according Johns Hopkins Medicine.The condition hasn’t stopped her pursuit of art. She has been draw- ing since she was 3 years old, when a preschool teacher recognized her talent. She credits her success in part to friends and teachers she met in Dickin- son public school who acknowledged her abilities, disabilities and talents and treated her like anyone else. “They already knew about me, but the art teachers saw something special in me,” she said, recalling an elementary art schoolteacher who gave her private lessons in her home for several years. College of the Mainland art profes- sor Mark Greenwalt also immediately saw her talent and encouraged her to try new things. “She has all the challenges that any student has and she knows she can’t be in a rush,” Greenwalt said. “Everything takes her longer, but she is disciplined and has faith in herself and her abilities.” She has become a role model for other students, he said. “She’s smart, adaptable and talented and she accepts criticism well,” Green- walt said. “She’s here to learn.” In her earlier years, Montalvo paint- ed with acrylics, holding brushes in her mouth. That was cumbersome, so she learned to work on an iPad, she said. “My mouth would get tired and I found the digital art easier on me,” she said. “Just the convenience of digital art makes it easier for me to access it.” She gets inspiration for her art from surfing the web, selecting a subject and then drawing it on the iPad. She uses a program called Procreate to help fine tune the image, adding de- tails, backgrounds, textures and color. Some pictures take a few hours, most take more than a day. All the work is done with the plastic pen between her teeth. Her head is in constant motion as she draws, bobbing 88 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2023 CURRENTS | ART PHOTOS: CO u RTESY RENYA MONTALVO COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2023 89 and dipping as she works. She uses the tool for wide swaths of color and then quickly changes to a fine point to fill in tiny areas with spe- cific details. She carefully watches as the drawing evolves and comes to life. Montalvo’s grandmother Debbie Baker raised her and said she always supported her artistic passions. “She does stuff I cannot do — even with two hands,” Baker said. “She does an awesome job. “We always encouraged her to do anything she wanted to do. She can do it all, but she does it without hands. “She just does it her way.” Baker and caretaker Kim Laymance help Montalvo dress and eat and hold the tools so she can apply makeup, Baker said. “I hold the mirror and eyeliner and she moves her head to apply the mas- cara, eye shadow or liner the way she wants it. I can’t even look when she is doing this,” Baker said. Montalvo optimistic about her fu- ture and hopes she can someday get a job to support herself. “I deserve better than sitting at home and doing nothing,” she said. “That’s not why I was put on this Earth. “I’m still trying to figure it all out. But I am motivated to go to college and, so far, I am pretty pleased with the way it’s going.” (Above) Reyna Montalvo heads to art class at College of the Mainland in Texas City as fellow art student Declan Kuhn works on a hallway mural. Montalvo, who was born with arthrogryposis, can’t move her arms or legs and uses her head to guide her electric wheelchair. (Opposite) Digital art by Montalvo. “I’m still trying to figure it all out. But I am motivated to go to college and, so far, I am pretty pleased with the way it’s going.” REYNA MONTALVONext >