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Anyone flying over the west coast of Jersey yesterday may have wondered if they’d got their dates wrong.
Instead of standard sand, the beach at Ouaisné was covered with giant letters, wishing people ‘Happy New Year’.
The new year’s message was the work of Jersey sand artist Andy Coutanche.
He said: “The weather was really good on Tuesday so I knew that if I wanted to do a new year artwork I had to take my chance. I would normally do the sand works at Plémont, but the light there goes too early at this time of year, so I decided on Ouaisné.
“It can take anything from an hour, to three hours to do a picture, depending on the size and level of detail. I try to start as soon as I can after low tide, however, I can only work on dry sand so I end up chasing the tide down at a distance.”
Mr Coutanche has been creating sand art in Jersey for the past six years using his great-grandfather’s rake. He has since created sand art in New Zealand, Bermuda, and France, and in 2016, will take part in sand art competitions in Ireland and Bermuda.
Earlier this week he created a design 350 feet long by 85 feet wide at Plémont which involved walking him over 7km. Andy gets inspiration for many of his works from light painting – taking pictures of light patterns in the dark.
He said: “The art is for the public, but I work with a photographer, Chris Brookes, to record the work from the air. The art is there and then it’s gone, one day the beach is covered with a design, the next it’s clean again.
“It’s a unique and very environmentally friendly art form. Local people and visitors can see the sand art while it is being created, while the pictures are a very good way of promoting Jersey once the design has gone.”
Photo credit: Chris Brookes
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