Beach artists create stunning Exmoor ponies out of pebbles and seaweed

exmoor ponies beach4art
The ponies on Sandymere Beach Credit: Beach4Art

A pair of beach artists have created an image of Exmoor ponies using pebbles, driftwood and seaweed on a beach in Devon.

Ieva Slare and Dzintars Slars visited Sandymere beach on 17 and 18 October to craft their picture on the sand - and it's a fitting theme as today (19 October) is Exmoor Day.

The husband and wife from Bideford were approached by a magazine editor to create something to mark the day, and they thought that the ponies would make the perfect scene.

It took roughly eight hours, split over two days to finish the creation but because they were working in darkness on the first day, they returned this morning to finish it off.

Thanks to the low tide, the ponies remained unspoiled overnight and they were able to add a mane and tail with driftwood.

A horse and rider passes by the pony art in a serendipitous moment Credit: Beach4Art

Ieva said: "Exmoor is a beautiful place to enjoy amazing nature and wildlife. A couple of years ago when we attended Exmoor, we had this amazing opportunity to see the ponies from very close distance and we were quite excited about it."

The 19th October is Exmoor Day - a day to celebrate all that Exmoor National Park offers to the world. Exmoor National Park boasts inspiring landscapes, wonderful wildlife, enterprising businesses and a rich cultural heritage.

Ieva and husband Dzintars run Beach4art - they are family-of-four who create beach art projects, inspired by beautiful nature in Devon.

Ieva, Dzintars, 12-year-old daughter Elizabeth and 14-year-old son Emanuels have been living in the UK for 10 years after moving from Latvia.

Ieva working on the piece Credit: Beach4Art

To mark Her Majesty the Queen's passing last month, the family created a stunning Paddington Bear tribute which went viral.

They create all sorts of beautiful images on the shore using materials from the beach, including recent pieces of pine martens and weasels and a majestic deer in autumn leaves.

Ieva added: "We don’t know what will be our next project. Some wildlife I believe as we love nature around us and it gives us a lot of happiness. It supports our wellbeing and it’s very interesting to create wildlife."