A retired GP has recreated a famous masterpiece of a devoted couple looking out to sea – as a giant drawing on her favourite beach using a garden rake.

Claire Eason, 55, spent four hours painstakingly drawing the image on Beadnell Bay in Northumberland before the tide washed it away.

As a birthday surprise for one of her friends, Claire used her skills to recreate a giant version of a 19th century Skagen painter.

The masterpiece, entitled ‘Summer Evening on Skagen Beach’ was originally painted by Peder Severin Kroyer in 1899.

Claire took up art after moving from her home in Worksop, Notts., to be closer to her favourite Northumberland beaches.

She said: “I wanted to surprise a friend for his 80th birthday who told me his interest in the Skagen group of artists.

“I looked through their work and found the Peder Kroyer Summer Evening on Skagen Beach painting.

“The scene looked very Northumbrian to me, and the elegant couple with their black dog.

“I traced the figures out on paper and mapped out how I would recreate it on the beach in time for the tide to lap up close to the couple.

“The piece lasted about an hour before the tide came in but that is part of the magic of beach art.”