With just a rake as a paintbrush a visiting artist is creating a stunning work of art on a Mount Maunganui beach.

This morning Andres Amador, an artist from San Francisco, is drawing an intricate piece of art on the sand, only for it to be lapped away by the incoming tide.

Starting about 7am, the artwork will take about two hours to complete.

The design was not his, Pohe Luttenberger, designed the artwork and Mr Amador translated the design onto the beach using just a garden rake.

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Mr Amador chose the beach on the bay side of Mauao after careful consideration of slope, drainage, size, and graininess of the sand.

"It's not just about the artwork, it's also about the landscape [of the beach] and the setting around the art."

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"The conditions on the day I can't do anything about and I can only press forward," he said.

"The nature of working with nature is accepting the quirkiness of the setting."

Mr Amador has been creating huge ephemeral sand drawings for the past 13 years, and has been in New Zealand for two months with his wife and young son, travelling around the North Island creating artworks on New Zealand beaches.

Read the Bay of Plenty Weekend to find out more about Mr Amador's art and the end result of his Mount Maunganui beach piece.