Dorothy and Andrei started flying kites in 1985, and building them a few years later.
For quite a while Dorothy was content to fly and photograph these skyward art exhibits.
Then in 2008 she joined Andrei in attending the Fort Worden Kite Makers Conference in Washington State as there was far too many neat kites, and there was no way Andrei could build them all. Now they faithfully attend this annual Kitemakers conference.
They enjoy all aspects of building, flying and attending festivals. You meet the neatest, nicest people on the kite field.
Their son, Andrew, attended his 1st kite festival when he was 5 weeks old. Now, Over two decades later, he enjoys flying single, dual and quadline kites.
Debbie & Brian have been flying kites for about 25 years and for the last 12 years building them. We are volunteers and participate in several kite events throughout the year.
We are the co-chairs of the Grays Harbor Festival of Colors held in June in Ocean Shores WA, help kids make kites at the Westport Windriders kite festival in July, event coordinators for the Foster Grandparents fun fly in Long Beach WA each August, where 200 handmade delta kites are given away to 3-12 year olds, and have helped with kite making and repairing kites in the kite hospital at Windscape since 2019.
Bud Taylor, of Bentley, Alberta is Canada’s #1 Kite Guy. He’s also a very familiar face at Windscape, having attended every year since its inception — it’s the best in the West!
Bud was introduced to building and flying kites by his dad, Dusty Taylor, even before he entered elementary school (using newspaper, wooden sticks, binder twine, bed sheets and mom’s old stockings). As an adult, Bud passed on his passion for kites to his boys and eventually turned it into a business which is still going strong today after 25 years! Look for Bud zipping around the field in his kite buggy, powered by a large power-foil kite, or spot him flying large spectacular show kites from his vast collection of mega kites… enjoying his perpetual youth at the end of a kite line. Do stop by and say hello.
Bud’s motto is, “Fly a kite, just for the health of it!” He is happy to answer any questions you might have about kites: old kites, new kites, slow and graceful ones, crazy-fast ones, fair weather kites, snow and ice kites, high tech, low tech … and everything in between. Poke around his website too: www.kiteguys.ca or email him at:
Get inspired and enjoy the wind. Enjoy Windscape!
In 1983, I received a two-line kite as a birthday present. That gift set me on a path of kite flying and kite making. Each new kite I made was bigger than the last and in 1986 I built a 20-foot wide delta shaped kite.
On that kite’s first test flight I felt its mighty power and stability. As I took a photo of that kite in flight I had the thought that the next step in my kite career should be to figure out a way to lift my camera with that kite to make aerial photos. Within a few months I had created a rig that attached to the kite line. It held the camera and triggered the shutter to make my first kite aerial photos. I have been hooked by that art form ever since. My photos have been exhibited in many galleries and museums, I have published two books of my work, and have had my kite aerial photography published in many magazines such as Popular Photography, Outside, Smithsonian Air and Space, Sailing World, and the Wall Street Journal.
Yves Laforest’s kite-flying journey began around the age of 10, when his father attempted to make him a kite. It didn’t fly—but undeterred, his father bought him a single-line delta kite with a 5-foot wingspan. Yves flew it constantly and still has it to this day.
About a dozen years later, he discovered people flying acrobatic kites on a river in St-Eustache. Intrigued, he bought four kites the following week—and a few more soon after. He quickly joined the Fédération Québécoise du Cerf-volant (Quebec Kite Federation), and just two years later, became its president.
“Kites were a chance in our life…”
Anne was a kindergarten teacher and it was at a kite workshop that she met Yves. Thirty-four years later they are still together.
Anne is more on the small and medium single line kites and “sky junk”; she’s the one who fills the space between the ground and the kites! She’s the one who leads the kite’s workshops with children.
She had a chance to travel for 7 years with Yves on a few international festivals like Berk sur Mer in France.
David Tuttle has been interested in kites since the late 1970s when at the Ontario College of Art he was assigned a kite design project. This piqued his interest and he eventually became totally involved in kites and kite flying.
After a move to Vancouver in 1981 he began working at High as a Kite in Gastown and joined the British Columbia Kitefliers Association where he fulfilled various executive positions in the club structure over the years. He is currently a member of the B.C.K.A and the A.K.A.
He first visited Swift Current in 1997 to help plan the first Windscape Kite Festival in 1998 and to curate the kite exhibition “On Blue – The Kite As Art”. He enjoyed the prairies and prairie people so much he came back to live. He now now assists with the planning and set-up of the current “Windscape” festival.
David enjoys building and flying single line kites of all types especially cellular designs and kite trains. He also enjoys collecting kite books and currently has a kite library of over 80 volumes.
“I Have really enjoyed coming to Windscape, and really missed being with the kite crew over the past two years. Will be delightful to see everyone again”.
Raj grew up flying kites where kite flying was especially celebrated at Easter. He was exposed to a tradition of kite flying, not only as a recreational activity but as a form of leisure which brought friends and family together. In his adult years, as he had the opportunity to travel to various countries, he longed to have that sense of comradery, not only on the ground, but in the wind where one can join with other kiters to paint an array of colours in the sky.
Raj recalls with deep sentiment when his mother said to him that once her father taught her how to fly single lined kites when she was a child. And then with a smile on her face she said,”Now my son is teaching me how to fly dual-lined kites.”Perhaps, Raj flies stunt kites today, just to hear the voices of the past whispering to him as his dual-lined strings whistle in the wind.
Ron and Eric bring decades of creativity, artistry, and passion for kite flying to skies around the world. Ron, originally from Santiago, Chile, is a celebrated kite designer and percussionist who has toured globally both with his jazz band and his sky sculptures.
Gary Mark is an avid flyer and enthusiast, who has fully immersed himself into the kiting world, having an extensive collection of fascinating kites from around the world. He is the owner of Blue Sky Kites, and organizes kiting events all over Canada.
Almost three decades of kite flying has given Gary many international opportunities, as well as provided him with many cherished relationships, knowledge and experience. He is the Region 13 American Kitefliers Association Director, the president of the Toronto Kite Fliers, and the Windscape master of ceremonies.
Gig Harbor, WA
Glenda and Monty have been flying kites for over 18 years and making kites for the past 12 years. They attend several kite events on the Washington coast, where they volunteer and support the events where needed. Both are volunteers at Washington State International Kite Festival.
“We are living proof that anyone can do this.”
Team Island Quad is a performance kite team based in Victoria on southern Vancouver Island. Formed in late 2008, they flew their first demonstration at Windscape 2009.
Dave has been a resident of Sask over the past 12 years, moving to Swift Current five years ago. He is a fellow kite enthusiast that has volunteered and flown his kites with Windscape over the last few years, sharing his large anchored octopuses and power sled among others.
Max Plisskin is the founder of the LA kite group which seeks to further and share the joy of kite flying in Los Angeles. Max specializes in flying tricks with dual line sport kites and is one of the few “Pan Ying” eagle glider pilots in the area. In recent years Max has also begun building kites and developing his sewing and appliqué designs.
We are happy to have Joe with us as a local kite flyer that loves to share the art of flying. This is his second year he has been sharing his passion for flying with Windscape and helping our team with the festival owned kites.
Lance Kryger lives in Delta, British Columbia. Professional mechanic for over 28 years. While on vacation he saw his first kite festival and was hooked. He builds and flies large show kites and is always up for an adventure.
Founding President of the Kite Association of the Philippines.
Kite making and kite flying are both his passion. As a child, the wind was a mystery to him.
Complemented
by his consciousness of the environment, he pursued the outdoors to find answers as to how this force of
nature can be utilized into a positive activity. This led him to discover kite flying and kite making at an
early age.
Fueled by his passion, he wanted to share to the society his knowledge and love for kites. Having a strong
vision to spread kite flying to the greater majority of the community, Mr. Ongkingco founded the Kite
Association of the Philippines in 1993. With members from all walks off life, the association grew to a
recognizable non-profit organization that represented the Philippines in the various kite meetings and
festivals worldwide.
His travels around the ASEAN region and other continents have introduced the Philippines to the kite
community. This brought about significant contributions of our kite tradition and history to the entirety
of kite culture around the world.
Aside from representing his country to kite events, teaching kite workshop to children fulfills him the most
as this is the Kite Association’s main advocacy, “a kite for every kid”. He strongly believes this tradition
should be passed onto the youth so it may live on to the next generation.
Professionally, he is a qualified medical technologist and has worked as a senior medical representative
in a major multinational corporation for several years until his retirement.
Mr. Ongkingco is the President of the Kite Association of the Philippines to date.
Quad Squad North West is a four line kite flying performance team featuring pilots from the Pacific Northwest, USA, and British Columbia. This unique team features 11 veteran flyers.
Due to the depth and experience of the team, QSNW is always able to provide a diverse and entertaining performance. Members have flown in kite festivals around the world, from France to Australia and even the Middle East.
Attendees at this year’s festival will be Terry Rowley, Sandra Letson, Tim Albee, Lisa Willoughby, Robert Shimada Gillash, and Akemi Gillcash
Ray Gowan is straight out of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and has been flying and building kites for many years.
He has since become our resident Stunt Kite Expert, and you might be able to catch him around the festival giving lessons and flying this stunt kite train in the dual line field. He regularly organizes kite flies out at his farm, inviting new and experienced level flyers to enjoy the winds of the prairies.
Ron is an accomplished and award winning water color painter and portrait artist. His love of building kites started when he built stunt kites for family members as Christmas presents and found his love for kite building.
His kite design ability and interest in appliqué made for a prefect transition into unique large heavily appliquéd soft kites. His portrait Rokkaku kites are well known over the world.
Ron’s standard appliquéd kite is a 240 sq. ft. soft kite he designed from the ground up to use as a platform for his aerial art. His Swifts are very stable flying kites and fly in winds from 3 to 22 mph. This allows his beautiful kites to fly while others are grounded because of little or too much wind. They are so well behaved that he flies 3 to 5 large kites at the same time. When he is on the beach it looks like a festival… even when he flies alone
He is an invited celebrity guest in International Super Kite Festival 2015 – Goa /Pune India; 2014/2015/2016 Pasir Gudang, Malaysia and Satun, Thailand kite festivals; 2015, 2016 and 2017; Borneo; 2016; Beijing, Xe’an, Wuan, Shanghai, Weifang and Chonging China kite festivals; Bondi Beach Festival of the Winds, Sydney, Australia; Dieppe, New Brunswick; Windscape in Swift Current, Sask.; Festival Saint-Honoré, Saguenay, Quebec; Berkeley Kite fest, Berkely, California; Lincoln City, Oregon Kite fest and Brookings, Oregon Kite festivals.
Ron is a frequent instructor at kite building retreats including OKR and Fort Worden, Oregon. He the recipient of many awards including Best Kite and Best Visual Appeal at the 2013 AKA National Convention in Seaside, Oregon, 1st in Sky Display; 1st in Soft Kite and Members Choice awards in 2016 AKA National Convention in Seaside, Oregon.
Ron enjoys all forms of kiting but lives to share his expertise and love of the sport. If he is on the beach you will find him talking and answering questions to all ages about his art in the sky.
Windscape 2022 will be Tory’s first kite Festival. Having flown for 5-6 years, his speciality is kite aerobatics utilizing two-line Parafoil Stunt Kites of up to three meters in wingspan and often with three 30 meter long tails in tow.
From Edmonton, Tory is really looking forward to meeting his fellow kite fliers and flying in front of the Windscape Kite Festival Spectators.
He has competed and flown in many events and enjoys the camaraderie of the WSIKF held each year the third week of August in Long Beach Washington. He truly enjoys the opportunity to teach new flyers about the sport and building kites for his customers. The science of kites are complex but an ongoing passion to pursue. He credits the club for their accomplishments and feedback on his innovative designs over the years. The many years on the field have taught him several life lessons, the most important of these is that flying should be shared with any interested parties especially with a passion for flight.”A kite on the wall is art, a kite in the box is science, a kite on the wind is life.”
Sharon Musto started building and flying kites in 1995. Back then, she lived in Manitoba, was a full-time mom, a teacher of students with exceptional needs and bit of part-time artist; kites quickly became a huge part of her life — an activity that she loved AND could include in both family life and professional life.
Fast forward to the present, now she resides in Alberta, is semi-retired and shares the joy of kites on a daily basis with her partner, Bud, through their store and online business, The Kite Guys. Sharon is an award winning kite builder and flyer and remains passionate about sharing her skills and sharing the joy of kites with anyone and everyone!
Steven Childers is a kite builder and flyer with over 25 years of experience. His favorite kite is the American fighter kite and is a member of the NAFKA association.
He has competed and flown in many events and enjoys the camaraderie of the WSIKF held each year the third week of August in Long Beach Washington. He truly enjoys the opportunity to teach new flyers about the sport and building kites for his customers. The science of kites are complex but an ongoing passion to pursue. He credits the club for their accomplishments and feedback on his innovative designs over the years. The many years on the field have taught him several life lessons, the most important of these is that flying should be shared with any interested parties especially with a passion for flight.”A kite on the wall is art, a kite in the box is science, a kite on the wind is life.”
