A Donegal beach provided the backdrop for a one-of-a-kind sand mural ahead of a local couple’s summer wedding.
The Celtic design was created by Manuel Frolich (Manu) and featured on Fintra beach for one day only on 29th June.
The art was created to mark the wedding of Jason Byrne and Avril Clarke on the 4th of August. It was commissioned by Jason’s mum, Jackie, as a surprise gift for the couple, who had no idea what treasure they would find during their beach walk.
Manu, a beach mural artist based in Waterford, put in great effort to ensure the surprise went without a hitch.
The project had to be carefully planned according to the weather, the tide times and to coincide with Jason’s next visit to Killybegs. He loves Fintra and always walks the beach when he visits home, so it was Jackie’s job to ensure that he and Avril went for their walk before the tide erased the drawing.
Manuel began measuring and outlining his art before sunrise, and five hours later, it was good to go.
Fintra sand art by Manu
“The weather was in our favour, glorious sunshine and Jason and Avril walked the beach at the calculated time and they had absolutely no idea what they will find on the beach,” Manuel said.
They couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw their names, and their wedding date, perfectly etched into the sand.
Manuel was sitting patiently in the background to fly his drone and capture the special moment.
Fintra sand art by Manu
“The drone footage was used for invitation cards for the wedding, a big picture was shown to all guests entering the wedding event and later my edited video clip of the day was shown on a big screen at the wedding reception,” he said.
“The surprise was big, everyone was emotional and we had lovely chats, I was happy to work for wonderful people.”
Manuel, based at the Copper Coast in Co.Waterford, is a South American-born German, living in Ireland for 23 years. He began drawing beach murals 9 years ago and since 2017 he has been getting commissioned for all sorts of occasions, announcements and festivals.
Check out the video on Manu’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Ballydwan
