Artist swaps paint brush for a garden rake to create 100ft-long sea serpent
- last year
An artist swapped her paint brush for a garden rake to create a 100ft-long sea serpent devouring cars crossing the causeway to Holy Island.
Claire Eason and a team of volunteers were forced to work quickly to avoid the incoming tide in order to carve the terrifying sea monster into the sand.
The team used garden rakes and buckets and spades to produce the eye-catching artwork on Monday (23/1).
The effect was a huge leviathan slithering under the three-mile long causeway linking Lindisfarne, known as Holy Island, with the mainland in Northumberland.
Claire, 58, a retired GP turned artist, said: “The idea came from being very familiar with the salt marshes and snaking streams on the causeway.
“They reminded me of a snake and this is why we chose to create a serpent in the causeway.
“It was a tricky design because you had to find the right sand on the causeway to create the artwork.
“We eventually found the one place where the sand was good on either side of the road and got to work.
“The serpent’s head was partly made from mud so when the water started to come in and cover the design you could still make out its horns.
“The serpent literally became a creature living under the water.”
The sand dragon measured 100ft (30m) from head to tail and took four hours to complete shortly before the tide started to come in.
The serpent design was also chosen to remind drivers about the dangers of crossing the causeway.
Dozens of people are rescued each year after their cars are stranded by sea which floods the narrow road twice a day
Claire added: “In the summer so many drivers get caught in the water and have to call the emergency services for help.
“When they arrive, they find drivers sat on their tops of their cars to escape the rising water and marshlands.
“The serpent was created to give drivers an extra sign about the dangers of crossing the causeway in a hopes to remind them to only do it when it’s a safe crossing time.”
Claire Eason and a team of volunteers were forced to work quickly to avoid the incoming tide in order to carve the terrifying sea monster into the sand.
The team used garden rakes and buckets and spades to produce the eye-catching artwork on Monday (23/1).
The effect was a huge leviathan slithering under the three-mile long causeway linking Lindisfarne, known as Holy Island, with the mainland in Northumberland.
Claire, 58, a retired GP turned artist, said: “The idea came from being very familiar with the salt marshes and snaking streams on the causeway.
“They reminded me of a snake and this is why we chose to create a serpent in the causeway.
“It was a tricky design because you had to find the right sand on the causeway to create the artwork.
“We eventually found the one place where the sand was good on either side of the road and got to work.
“The serpent’s head was partly made from mud so when the water started to come in and cover the design you could still make out its horns.
“The serpent literally became a creature living under the water.”
The sand dragon measured 100ft (30m) from head to tail and took four hours to complete shortly before the tide started to come in.
The serpent design was also chosen to remind drivers about the dangers of crossing the causeway.
Dozens of people are rescued each year after their cars are stranded by sea which floods the narrow road twice a day
Claire added: “In the summer so many drivers get caught in the water and have to call the emergency services for help.
“When they arrive, they find drivers sat on their tops of their cars to escape the rising water and marshlands.
“The serpent was created to give drivers an extra sign about the dangers of crossing the causeway in a hopes to remind them to only do it when it’s a safe crossing time.”