As part of the Love Stories to Nature commission series, Songlines invited the community to engage with the Pembrokeshire shoreline in a unique and deeply personal way.
Rooted in the ancient tradition of mapping stories through land, Songlines asked participants to write their own stories—messages of connection, memory, love, and longing—into the sands of our wild coastline. Guided by the idea that the landscape holds our histories and emotional imprints, local residents and artists came together to create ephemeral artworks using only what nature offered: sand, stones, shells, seaweed, and sunlight.
From bold spirals and sweeping lines to carefully etched words and delicate symbols, each creation was a moment in time—a fleeting love letter to the land. Some drew inspiration from childhood memories of the sea, others honoured ancestors, wildlife, or elements of the natural world that ground and sustain them.
The Pembrokeshire beaches became a living gallery for a day—no walls, no roof, just the rhythm of the tide marking time as the works slowly faded back into the earth.
At its heart, Songlines celebrated both the intimacy and impermanence of our relationship with nature. It reminded us that storytelling doesn’t always need permanence to be powerful. Sometimes, it’s the act of making, the shared experience, and the quiet offering to the world that matters most.
Thank you to everyone who took part—your hands, your hearts, and your stories left their mark.
