TWEED Coast resident Peter Dinham has spent his working life manufacturing steel products designed to endure but in recent months he’s been creating works that wash away with the incoming tide.

A sheet metal worker by trade, Mr Dinham accidentally stumbled across a new creative outlet while taking time out at one of the region’s beaches.

“I was doing rock sculptures and rock balancing and we were at a beach and there were no rocks so I started drawing pictures in the sand and then I got a rake and off I went,” he said.

That was eight months ago and since then he has created a series of stunning artworks, using a rake to mark a geometric pattern or design on the sand before abandoning it to the tide.

“I’ve always built things and created sculptures but this is something that I really love. It’s nice and easy and flowing,” he said.

“I get my moment out of it while I’m doing it and if I’m lucky enough to get a picture of it that’s a bonus. I think that’s the beauty of it, it’s here and gone.”

Mr Dinham has created an estimated 45 sand art works since he started, some taking as long as two hours to construct and measuring up to 40 metres across. Each is a spontaneous design.

“Whatever comes out is more luck than anything,” he said.

“I didn’t realise how symmetric they were until I got some shots from above. I just start in the middle and work my way out.

“I’ve spent my whole life working off plans and I think that’s why I like this so much, I can just let it flow.”

The artworks are now beginning to attract attention, including enquiries about possible commercial opportunities.

Mr Dinham has been approached about drawing company logos on the sand at iconic beaches and taking photos of the result.

It is something that Mr Dinham, who with wife Jedda owns Dinham Stainless at Tweed Heads South, is open to.

“I’ve only been doing it a little while and was doing because I loved it but the reaction has blown me away so I figure there may be some commercial application for it but I’m still trying to work all that out,” he said.