A Sheep in the Sun

Having already painted 'Star Grazer' for the Go Herdwick project, I was surprised and very pleased when Paula and Graham, the owners of  Lingmoor Guest House in Windermere who are sponsoring one of the ewes, asked me to create and paint a design for them.

The theme they requested was a celebration of the beauty of Cumbria through all the seasons, a sentiment that had prompted them to buy their guest house which they viewed whilst taking part in the TV programme 'A Place in the Sun'.

Featuring some of the many things Cumbria is famous for, 'A Sheep in the sun' shows daffodils, a Herdwick lamb, a red squirrel and a little rabbit sleepily enjoying the sunshine. Even the ewe herself seems to be nodding off , A sheep in the sun, asleep in the sun!

The design took several weeks to paint, using the acrylic as glazes to build up layers for a depth and luminosity of colour.

The #GoHerdwick trail of 60 decorated ewes will start on Good Friday 25th March, and will also be joined later in the year on 27th May by a 'Hide and Seek' trail of 30 lambs. For more information visit Go Herdwick.

Funds raised by the sale of the sculptures in the autumn will go to the Calvert Trust's campaign to raise £1.3 million to redevelop their Old Windbrowe site in Keswick. The Trust provides specialised outdoor adventure challenges for people with disabilities.

Celebrating Cumbria in all seasons, 'A Sheep in the sun' is for everyone living or visiting here, their dream place in the sun'  #cumbriaisopen #placetobe

Go Betty!

Betty ( Star Grazer) the Herdwick ewe, finally has her fleece of 'stars' ready to take her place at the  Lake District Calvert Trust  Charity Ball at Low Wood Bay Hotel, Windermere on Friday 11th September.

Local businesses and individuals are invited to bid to sponsor her, and kick off the Go Herwick public art project, which will be introduced by a special guest, the 'Herdy Shepherd' James Rebanks.
Star Grazer is billed as Lot 10 in the grand auction, early bids can be placed on-line here by midnight on 10th September to get the fundraising rolling!

My design features a colourful close up view of typical Cumbrian meadow plants and insects. The grasses and plants follow the form of the beautiful thick fleece of a Herdwick ewe.

Wild flower meadows and grassland are an intrinsic part of Britain's landscape and its agriculture and yet a staggering 97% of Wild flower meadows have been lost since 1930 leaving only 1% of the UK covered by species rich grassland. With careful management of this environment Sheep help wild plants germinate, as they trample the seeds into the earth.

Go Herdwick

I'm really thrilled to be part of the Go Herdwick public art project which will see beautiful Herdwick Sheep sculptures by Alan Dun, individually decorated by artists and designers, creating a trail in Cumbria from Easter to the autumn in 2016.
Organised by the Lake District Calvert Trust who deliver challenging outdoor adventure holidays for people with disabilities, to celebrate their 40th Anniversry and with support from community interest public art consultants Art at the Edge, the trail will aim to raise funds for it's wonderful work, by auctioning the sculptures in the autumn 2016.

Go Herdwick will be launched by the popular 'Herdy Shepherd' James Rebanks, at their Charity ball at Low Wood Bay Hotel, Windermere on Sept 11th . If you would like to sponsor a ewe please contact the Trust on  017687 72255.

My design 'Star Grazer' ( aka Betty!) is inspired by a beautiful Cumbrian meadow and it highlights the importance of sheep in helping to re-seed meadows by trampling the seeds into the earth. It features some of the plant and insect life of a typical Cumbrian meadow.

My ewe arrived at the weekend and here is an early work in progress picture!

Butterfly mad!

To celebrate the Big Butterfly Count here are just a few of the many butterflies that I have painted for illustrations, private commissions and on sculptures for public art projects.

These are not all British species but butterflies don't have to be tropical to be beautiful!

Elephant Hawkshead Moth on 'Maidenhare'

Orange Peacock Pansy on 'Butterfly Effect'

Common Blue - 'Happy Garden'

Marpesia on 'Butterfly Effect'

Peacock on 'Country Pignic'

Tiger Swallowtail on 'Butterfly Effect'

Painted Lady on 'Painted Lady'

Gaudy Commodore on 'Butterfly Effect'

Matriarch

When I was looking for inspiration for a new elephant design I looked east towards Bangkok.
This year the Elephant Parade will hold it's first parade in Thailand, the spiritual home of the parade, which was founded in 2006 by father and son Marc and Mike Spits. Whilst on holiday in Thailand, Marc met a baby elephant named Mosha, who had lost her leg after stepping on a landmine. Mosha inspired Marc and Mike to create Elephant Parade. 

The name of my elephant Matriarch is for mothers and female strength, the eldest female in a family group of elephants is known as the matriarch. So I named her for little Mosha, all female elephants and strong women everywhere.

One of the most important actions of Asian elephant conservation is to preserve their natural habitat, so I wanted to incorporate that idea. I therefore drew trees rising out of the city. I decided to paint the trees gold to symbolise the hope, energy, support and money coming from the city, with the leaves green to show the aim to preserve the natural habitat of Thailand. I chose to use a rich colour palette so depicted the city at night with a bright sunset. The hearts are simply a symbol of love for elephants.

Bangkok is visually a city of contrasts, magnificent ancient stone temples and soaring modern skyscrapers. It attracts nearly 16 million visitors a year. It's very special that the capital city is supporting the parade to help the endangered Asian elephant, which is also Thailand's' national symbol.

You can vote for Matriarch in the Artbox contest to become part of the Bangkok Parade HERE

My elephant in Elephant parade artbox contest final!

I'm absolutely delighted that my design 'Matriarch' has been short listed in the Elephant Parade Artbox Contest! Details on where to vote are below.

More than 500 designs painted on the little elephants were entered and 10 have been chosen by the judges for the short list which Elephant Parade fans can vote on via the Facebook page.

The winner of the contest has their design scaled up to a life sized elephant to become part of the Bangkok Parade, and wins a trip to see the launch.The Bangkok Parade presented by Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spa's will see 99 life sized elephant sculptures visit the streets of the city for 3 months, culminating in a gala charity auction to raise funds for the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation.

The matriarch is the eldest female in a family group of elephants, the national symbol of Thailand.

My design is inspired by Bangkok, the vibrant modern city with beautiful historic temples, which is supporting the Asian elephant population through the Elephant Parade. Created by love in the form of the hearts, the awareness, support and funds raised by the Elephant Parade, are symbolised by the gold trees rising out of the city, they help protect Thailand's natural habitat, symbolised by the green leaves on the end of the branches.

It would be fantastic to see Matriarch become part of the Bangkok Parade, you can vote for her on Facebook here

Good luck little ele!

London Road Bath Regeneration Project Update

It was very exciting to see the planters arriving on site yesterday.

Last year after input from the community, which was facilitated by Haiku and Renga poetry specialists With Words and some fun research into the history of the area, I created designs for tree planters and tree grilles. They are part of the regeneration work to enhance the public spaces and help green up the Snow Hill area of London Road.

The designs have been laser cut onto CorTen steel by Streetlife. CorTen steel has a stainless core with a thin outside layer which rusts over time creating an organic looking and warm surface colour. Depending on the weather, the planters should start to change colour within 2 or 3 weeks.

The central island will have small leaved Lime trees 'Tilia Cordata' planted in pits over which the grilles will sit, allowing rain to reach the roots. The planters will hold Amelanchier trees 'Snowy mespil' with 'Sempervivum' and 'Allium' around the base, and variegated ivy trailing down the two plain sides.

I can't wait to see the work completed and the area really come to life!