Claire Eason was lining up her drone to etch out the flower in the sky when the aurora borealis suddenly appeared.
To create her ‘Poppy of Light’ artwork, she first sketched her design of the iconic flower on paper before transferring it onto a computer.
She then used the co-ordinates of each pen stroke to plot a flight path which she programmed into her drone which was equipped with a lighting rig.
Amazing video shows the drone taking to the sky at dusk to ‘paint’ the poppy sprouting from the top of Cleadon Hill windmill in South Shields.
Claire, who became an artist after retiring as a GP, said: “I love combining natural landmarks with modern technology.
“I’ve always loved the windmill which looks to me like a giant upturned flowerpot.
“When I’d decided on the poppy design I knew I wanted it to be growing out of the windmill into the sky.
“It was a spine-tingling moment as the sky started to move and colour, it was almost like being photobombed by the aurora.
“For us it did feel as if nature was honouring the fallen. It was almost like an endorsement from nature, I can’t imagine I'll ever be that lucky again.
“Usually when we try this sort of thing, it takes a bit of messing about to fit where it should. We didn’t expect it to work first time.
“We weren’t thinking about the aurora, there was warning that day but that was it.
“But then we could see the colours on the back of the camera.
“The doorway of the windmill is always due to north so it worked perfectly.
“It was just after dusk that the first wave of colour just started to happen.
The windmill is thought to have been used as target practice for training soldiers during the First World War.
Claire usually carves intricate images onto beaches in Northumberland but she’s recently branched out into drone art.
She added: “It’s many, many hours of planning. The first thing is a pencil sketch and then that is put into Google Earth.
“You then plan a flight path.
“The flight path is like a painting on a piece of glass, then the drone will follow that flight path. The potential for mistakes are huge.
“I plotted it to be 8m of the ground, it’s almost 100m in total.
“It’s got to be a safe distance off the ground, you have to do a recce before to make sure the drone doesn’t bump into the ground.
“I’m thrilled with the end result, I think it honours the fallen rather beautifully.”

1. 3D image of Claire Eason's giant light poppy
A 3D image of Claire Eason's giant light poppy, created at Cleadon Hills Nature Reserve, South Shields. Photo: SWNS

2. The Poppy of Light project
The Poppy of Light project was created on October 10, 2024 at windmill at Cleadon Hills Nature Reserve, South Shields. Photo: SWNS

3. Claire Eason
Artist Claire Eason created a stunning 90m high poppy set against the Northern Lights to commemorate British servicemen and women for Remembrance Day. Photo: SWNS

4. 300ft high poppy set against the Northern Lights
Artist Claire Eason created a stunning 90m high poppy set against the Northern Lights to commemorate British servicemen and women for Remembrance Day. Photo: SWNS