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SF Artist Gaining Fame For Inspiring, Temporary Beach Designs

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - His pieces to fit in a museum and don't last very long, but anyone who has seen Andres Amador's artwork has been left with a lasting impression.

Amador uses public beaches as his canvas, raking the sand to form inspiring patterns best viewed from above. He calls himself an earthscape artist and his tools are simple make-shift rakes.

His geometry-inspired abstract art is often the size of a football field. It takes him about two hours to lay out and complete a single design, then he flies a drone above to get a better view of what the finished product looks like before high tide comes and washes away his vision.

"I'd say my biggest inspiration is nature," Amador says. "It almost feels like a scientific pursuit on some level."

The results are inspiring:

He gave up a life as an environmental scientist to follow his passion. He uses the images for postcards, but has also been commissioned to create marriage proposals and advertisements for hotels.

"I never thought that I could make a living raking in the sand," said Amador. "I don't think that I'm doing some monumental thing for humanity, but I think that, in a small way, I'm contributing to the happiness of the people who get to experience it."

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