An incredibly talented sand artist has created a giant first class postage stamp portrait on Bamburgh beach.
Claire Eason, 57, painstakingly constructed the piece using a garden rake to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee.
The astonishing tribute to Her Majesty The Queen was eye-catching from ground level, but witnessing the portrait from the air was when it became truly breathtaking. Claire, of Sunderland, decided upon the image of a first class stamp because it is one of the most recognisable of Queen Elizabeth.
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“I wanted to do something for the jubilee and straight away the image of the stamp came into my head simply because it’s a part of our everyday life," said artist Claire. " She must like this image as it’s hardly changed at all, I love that sense of continuity.
"A big portion of her reign has had this as her backdrop. I like the sense of familiarity. I like the idea of the stamp, it’s personal to us and to her."
"The preparation takes a long time to get the square grid right. You have to use string and sticks to make the outline match. You have to be careful or else it can be wonky. It can be quite time-consuming. For something like this, there was a lot of detail to get right."
“There was sketching in the outline, all the raking, trying to get a consistency to make sure all the background was bold and consistent. The actual preparation is finding an image that takes your fancy to something that’s suitable for drawing on a beach."
“This particular week has been so windy. One of the drawings has had to be abandoned, it’s just an occupational hazard, you have to watch the weather and watch the tide."
"But I’m delighted with how it has turned out - I hope it gets The Queen’s stamp of approval.”
Following a 30-year career in the NHS, mostly working as a GP, retiree Claire Eason wanted to explore the well-being benefits of sand art. This endeavour led to the founding of Soul 2 Sand, through which Claire creates the humongous artworks along the Northumberland coastline and captures them elegantly with her aerial drone footage.
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