Sand Artist

An inspiring Dutch sand artist has drawn the Walton Arts Festival logo for us on the beach by Walton Pier. Gert-Jan van der Kooij goes by the name of De Strandharker, which means ‘The Sand Raker’ in Dutch. 

This is his second trip to Walton on the Naze to create giant sand artworks. He has been drawing portraits and artworks on request by locals in the area. Gert-Jan likes the Walton beaches to draw on because of the flat sands and the raised promenade, which allows viewers to look down on the drawings.

"There's a high promenade where you can look from above, and that's perfect because in The Netherlands, when I'm raking, people can't see what I'm doing, only when they see it through the drone."

He prepares the artworks he draws first on his computer using software, and then loads the images to his virtual reality glasses, which he then projects onto the beach, tracing the lines and carefully raking the shapes. 

You can follow his work on Facebook and Instagram @DeStrandharker