The Evolution of Ray Villafane's career is nothing short of fascinating.  

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After dedicating 13 wonderful years of teaching children and witnessing the journey of an entire generation from kindergarten through graduation pass through his classroom, Ray then blasted into the toy and collectible industry with his very first "practice sculpture", a Wolverine sculpture based off the recently released (at the time) movie, X-men.  A decision he gave little thought to other than "it will be fun", wound up launching a career change for him literally overnight. He went on to do work for some big industry names inclusive of Marvel, McFarland Toys, Sony and Warner Brothers, eventually signing an exclusive contract with DC Comics for a few years before switching gears yet again.

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Having played around with 3-D pumpkin carving as school projects with his former students, Ray decided to take his newly refined skills and apply them to pumpkins to see what kind of magic he could extract out of them again "just for fun". That fun ended him up on the Food Network where he swept all rounds of the Outrageous Pumpkins Challenge Show, which ironically opened the door to yet another new endeavor -- sand sculpting.  After seeing him on television, Ray was contacted by a world acclaimed sand company and invited to Italy to give it a whirl.  He did and  another new passion was born.  

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A lover of the natural elements, Ray has continued to evolve his career in the most authentic of ways, combining playing with sticks and stones to infusing his magic into funny stories and silly characters with a slight edge of creepy and just enough inappropriateness to make things fun.

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But what Ray is really good at, in fact - the best at, is being an inspiration. A natural teacher, mentor and compassionate soul Ray has always humbly shared himself and his art straight from his heart. He is a

natural at raising the energy in the room with his humbleness and passion for what he does.

 

He's a great example of the truth in creating your own reality,

believing in oneself and following your passion and your dreams.

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He shows what's possible when you believe.

Ray is available for public speaking at motivational, educational and career conferences as well

as for charitable causes and mentoring programs.

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