Fossil sand drawing by Jon Foreman, Lindsway Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Fossil
Jon Foreman (Sculpt the World) · “Fossil”, 2024 · Sand drawing on the beach at Lindsway Bay, near St Ishmaels, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Photo as published on Street Art Utopia; the same picture is on the artist’s Facebook post
A spiral the shape of an ammonite, filled with branching lines, covers the sand below the cliffs of Lindsway Bay, while one small figure walks past its open end. Wales-based land artist Jon Foreman drew it in 2024 and posted it with the words “This is not AI.” Like his other beach drawings, it was made to be taken by the tide.
4 things to know
- “This is not AI”The artist’s own caption opens with that line, then gives the title, the year and the place: “Fossil, 2024 / Created at Lindsway Bay.” The photo in his post is the same aerial view as ours. Sculpt the World on Facebook
- A beach you reach on footLindsway Bay lies by the village of St Ishmaels in Pembrokeshire. Visit Pembrokeshire says it is “accessible only by coastal path or across the playing fields from St Ishmaels village” and is “at its best at low tide when a wide expanse of sand and rock pools are revealed”. Visit Pembrokeshire · Coflein
- Made to be washed awayForeman makes his works from sand, stones and shells on the open shore. Colossal wrote in 2020 that he arranges them “knowing that they’ll be washed away by the tide or kicked over by passersby”. No source reports when this spiral disappeared. Colossal · My Modern Met
- Home coastMy Modern Met says Foreman “grew up in Pembrokeshire, Wales” and now makes art “on the beaches he’s known all his life”. My Modern Met
Check-in guide
- 📍
- Lindsway Bay, a small sandy beach by St Ishmaels in Pembrokeshire (Visit Pembrokeshire, Coflein). The Maps button uses Visit Pembrokeshire’s point for the beach.
- 🧭
- Visit Pembrokeshire says the beach is reached only by the coast path or across the playing fields from St Ishmaels, that the steps down are steep, and that there are no facilities on site. Check tide times so you are not cut off.
- 🌊
- There is nothing to visit: the drawing was made in sand between the tides in 2024 and is long gone. The beach and cliffs in the photo are still there.
Sightings
- 2024Artist
“Fossil, 2024”, artist’s post
- 20265 Oct
On Street Art Utopia
Every stamp links to the dated source. The 2024 stamp is the year the artist gives in his caption; we could not read the date of the post itself. No dated report of the spiral being washed away was found.
On the record
Fossil, 2024
“This is not AI. / Fossil, 2024 / Created at Lindsway Bay.”
The artist’s full caption, posted with the photo shown above.
Lindsway Bay
“This rural beach is accessible only by coastal path or across the playing fields from St Ishmaels village.”
The tourism guide adds that the beach is best at low tide, when “a wide expanse of sand and rock pools are revealed”.
Stones, Leaves, and Shells Whorl in Hypnotic Land Art by Jon Foreman
“Jon Foreman arranges his seashell coils and stone gradients knowing that they’ll be washed away by the tide or kicked over by passersby.”
Written four years before Fossil; it describes his work in general, including “sweeping sand mandalas”.
Artist Uses Sand and Stones to Create Land Art Masterpieces at His Local Beach
“Each ephemeral installation will eventually disappear when it’s reclaimed by the earth or washed away by the tide.”
The same article says he grew up in Pembrokeshire. Not about this work.
The facts
- Artist
- Jon Foreman, who posts as Sculpt the World; the Facebook page is “Jon Foreman: Sculpt The World” (Facebook). Based in Wales (Colossal) Checked
- Date
- 2024, per the artist (Facebook). The day or month is not given, and the post’s own date could not be read Checked
- Place
- Lindsway Bay, by St Ishmaels, Pembrokeshire, Wales (Facebook, Visit Pembrokeshire, Coflein). The map point is the beach, from Visit Pembrokeshire; the exact spot on the sand is not given Checked
- Medium
- Lines drawn into wet sand on the beach, as seen in the photo. No source gives the tools or the size Unconfirmed
- Photo
- The same aerial view the artist posted (Facebook); presumably his own photo, but no photographer is named Unconfirmed
- Status
- Gone. A sand drawing on an open beach; Colossal and My Modern Met say his beach works are washed away by the tide (Colossal, My Modern Met). No source dates this one’s loss Reported
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: When Nature Becomes Art (10 Photos vol. 5) (5 October 2026), where the photo above appeared as work no. 3, and Clever Land Art by Jon Foreman (8 Photos) (22 August 2026).
- How Foreman works with stones, leaves and shells on the Welsh coast. Colossal
- The artist’s own posts. Sculpt the World on Facebook · @sculpttheworld on Instagram
All sources (6)
This work
- Jon Foreman: Sculpt The World, Facebook post “This is not AI. / Fossil, 2024 / Created at Lindsway Bay.”, undated post, read on 5 October 2026 from the page’s preview text and image. Artist, title, year, place; the same photo as ours.
The place
- Visit Pembrokeshire: Lindsway Bay, undated beach guide. St Ishmaels, access by coast path or playing fields, low tide, steep steps, no facilities; point 51.7167, -5.1231.
- Coflein: Unidentified Wreck, Lindsway Bay, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales site record. Places the bay in the community of St Ishmael’s, grid reference SM8441506506.
The artist
- Colossal: “Stones, Leaves, and Shells Whorl in Hypnotic Land Art by Jon Foreman”, 26 April 2020, by Grace Ebert. Based in Wales; works washed away by the tide; sand mandalas. Not about this work.
- My Modern Met: “Artist Uses Sand and Stones to Create Land Art Masterpieces at His Local Beach”, 5 May 2021, by Emma Taggart. Grew up in Pembrokeshire; installations washed away by the tide. Not about this work.
Our own
- Street Art Utopia: When Nature Becomes Art (10 Photos vol. 5), 5 October 2026. The photo and caption; not counted as a source.
Artwork File · Last checked 5 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files