Simon Beck: Brean Down sand design is artist's 500th creation

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Design on Brean down beachImage source, Raed Shakman
Image caption,

Simon Beck is known for his sand and snow drawings at Brean Down beach

A sand and snow artist who is known for his massive symmetrical shapes has created his 500th piece on a beach in Somerset.

This eye-catching geometrical drawing was made by Simon Beck, 62, who used a rake and a compass to measure and draw each intricate section of the design.

The former cartographer battled high winds to create the Sierpiński triangle design on Brean Down.

Mr Beck, from Taunton, said it was "a major landmark" to reach 500 designs.

Image source, Raed Shakman
Image caption,

Mr Beck said the beach was a "bit too dry" so some definition was lost

"I have a lifetime ambition of making 1,000 drawings by the time I reach the age of 80," he said.

"So I feel a certain amount of achievement to be at 500.

"I'm disappointed not to have a better result - the beach was a bit too dry therefore we lost some definition of the drawing so it's mixed feelings.

"I'd feel a lot happier if we had a really good result. But you win some you lose some don't you?"

Image source, Raed Shakman
Image caption,

The artist used a rake and a compass to measure and draw each section of the design

Image source, Raed Shakman
Image caption,

A Sierpiński triangle has the overall shape of an equilateral triangle, subdivided into smaller equilateral triangles

A Sierpiński triangle has the overall shape of an equilateral triangle, subdivided into smaller equilateral triangles.

Mr Beck first started making fractal drawings in the snow in 2004 as a hobby, and has since created large scale land art pieces in places including the French Alps and Colorado in the United States.

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