{"id":448444,"date":"2026-01-31T00:24:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/448444\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T00:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:24:22","slug":"the-tide-takes-away-his-work-each-day-but-learning-to-let-go-has-transformed-this-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/448444\/","title":{"rendered":"The tide takes away his work each day, but learning to let go has transformed this artist"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the break of dawn, there isn’t much to see on the shoreline, but that’s the beauty of Coolangatta.<\/p>\n

A hotspot at times, for now, it’s just seagulls soaring above early morning surfers braving the water.<\/p>\n

The waves roll in and roll out, erasing the thousands of footprints left by the beachgoers of yesterday and presenting a fresh canvas for today.<\/p>\n

It’s still and quiet here until a man appears out of the dunes, ready to make his own mark on the glimmering beaches of the southern Gold Coast.<\/p>\n

Mal Leckie starts each day the same way \u2014 toes in the sand and a rake in hand, scribbling artwork that will soon be taken by the tides.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

The best time to catch a glimpse of the sand art is as the sun rises, Mal Leckie says. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n

The 74-year-old takes a deep breath and bends forward into a slight hunch before slicing through the imperfect sand that makes up his canvas.<\/p>\n

“I just call them my scratchings \u2026 the sand is a great canvas, it’s free and there’s a fresh one each day,” he says.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Mal spends about an hour working to make the unremarkable into something worth stopping to see.<\/p>\n

Swirls, twists, arrows and more, the only ceiling on what can appear here is the artist’s imagination.<\/p>\n

“I get a flood of people asking, ‘What does it mean?’ Usually I just tell them I’m signalling the spaceship,” Mal chuckles.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

The artworks are simple but effective and draw attention from many early risers lucky enough to catch a glimpse. (Supplied: Mal Leckie)<\/p>\n

In the same way the tide provides a new space to work, it quickly takes hold of the piece he has spent an hour poring over.<\/p>\n

Mal admits it can be tricky to battle the water, but seeing his efforts cleansed from the sand’s surface is no bother.<\/p>\n

\"Wave<\/p>\n

It doesn’t take too long for the tide to reclaim the artwork each morning. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n

“It’s a little bit awkward sometimes when the tide comes in too quick, but teaching myself to let things go has proved to be really calming generally in my life,” he says.<\/p>\n

“I think if you can learn to lose this every day and then apply it to other areas of your life, it’s a lot easier.”Finding purpose and connection<\/p>\n

Born in Western Australia, Mal moved to the Gold Coast 50 years ago to take up a position teaching art at a prestigious boys’ school.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward half a century, and he has long abandoned his career in education, trading that time instead for professional art.<\/p>\n

\"Patterns<\/p>\n

Early risers often compliment the mandala-like art created. (Supplied: Mal Leckie)<\/p>\n

He still spends most of his time painting, but says the daily sand art ritual is purely for leisure. He says it started innocently.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been a daily surfer my whole life, ever since I had a car,” he says.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Mal Leckie says he can slip into a trance-like state while working on each of his “scratchings”. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

A bout of COVID-19 robbed Mal of his ability to balance on the board when infection spread into his inner ear, a crucial anchor in any person’s stability.<\/p>\n

No longer able to surf in the way he wanted to, he turned away from his beloved hobby and was left with a gaping hole in his morning schedule.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Each piece takes about an hour to complete and can vary in size and shape. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

“I started walking and running, that sort of thing \u2026 but it turned into this when I was asked to take a photo of a woman with crystal singing bowls,” he says.<\/p>\n

“The photo looked pretty ordinary, so I carved some patterns into the sand. It’s evolved into this.”<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Sound bowls are typically used in meditation and produce long tones or vibrations. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n

He had become accustomed to seeing Carmel Glenane appear nearby on the foreshore over the year, with a cart in tow.<\/p>\n

The pair shares an affinity for rising early.<\/p>\n

\"Shot<\/p>\n

Other long-armed tools are sometimes called on to assist with the work. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Carmel has spent almost every morning of the past 25 years here, spreading cheer and catching curious looks as she lets her sound bowls sing, sending vibrations across the beach.<\/p>\n

Mal had been one such onlooker, but now, he’s a friend and collaborator.<\/p>\n

“[This work] gave me a reason to still come to the beach every day \u2026 I’m out of bed; that’s the main thing.”<\/p>\n

Settling into their respective practices, the beach is tranquil.<\/p>\n

Foot traffic is building, with plenty of glances as the art takes form.<\/p>\n

\"Blonde<\/p>\n

Carmel Glenane says she most enjoys seeing the reaction of her community to the work. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n

Carmel isn’t surprised by the number of people who stop nearby, taking in the scene before them.<\/p>\n

Some ask questions, some just smile.<\/p>\n

“There’s a beautiful moment of just watching other people share the joy \u2026 it’s a community,” she says.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Mal Leckie says he doesn’t typically know where a piece is going and allows his imagination to guide him. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the break of dawn, there isn’t much to see on the shoreline, but that’s the beauty of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,232090,232087,232088,232085,134,232086,232084,232091,232083,232089],"class_list":{"0":"post-448444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-beach-art","11":"tag-beach-scratchings","12":"tag-carmel-glenane","13":"tag-coolangatta-beach-art","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-mal-leckie","16":"tag-raking-art-on-beach","17":"tag-sand-art","18":"tag-sand-art-coolangatta-beach","19":"tag-sound-bowls-beach"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}