A group of imaginative artists has shown magic can be made from a few simple lines in the sand.
Mt Maunganui beachgoers couldn't help doing double-takes at a three-dimensional marine scene created on a stretch of sand between the Mount and Matakana Island yesterday morning.
Local artist Jamie Harkins (pictured at front) oversaw its creation with help from fellow artists (from left) Lucia Lupf, David Rendu and Constanza Nightingale.
Inspired by 3D chalk drawings on pavement, he said he was keen to take the concept to the beach.
"We've seen other people doing stuff on beaches, but it's always been geometric, flat shapes, like a pattern, so we thought we'd get into the whole 3D thing," he said. "And I kind of like the fact that it disappears at the end of the day when the tide comes in. It makes it impermanent."