wOL's location - The Big Egg Hunt

Map of Covent Garden 

Although The Big Egg Hunt maps are a quite wonderful design, the Covent Garden egg zone doesn't go far enough to show wOL's current location for he is currently residing at the end of King Street, where Garrick Street meets Bedford Street. So I've marked the spot with a red target to the left.

Also, I was very pleased to see Creative Review have included wOL in a nice little article this week. The graphic designer in me is quietly proud.

In situ. Picture courtesy of Steve Newton

The Big Egg Hunt

wOL the egg

Today is launch day for The Big Egg Hunt. It's an event comprising of two hundred decorated eggs that have been painted, embellished or cut away in beautiful patterns by a wide range of individuals from artists and architects to artisans and famous personalities. We've all had a little go a redesigning the ovoid. Now the results have all been scattered about London, to await discovery. After the success of the Elephant Parade 2010, The Elephant Family, took on board the fact that people really enjoyed searching for as many different elephants as they could find. And so they came up with a traditional egg hunt for their next project.

Some of the eggs are highly exotic precious pieces made from all sorts of wonderful materials, some have a serious message, but mine is just a brightly painted bit of fun really. My original design was a dragon that was going to wrap itself around the shape. The owl was an afterthought, a doodle I sent in case they had a spare egg to do, but the organisers preferred it. 

Dragon. Felt tip on paper.

Owl. Felt tip on paper

Since waving goodbye to wOL he's been swanning around London - apparently he's been seen in all the right places. When he eventually settles on a perch, I'll let the location be known. 

I'll have more about The Big Egg Hunt at a later date. Till then ahh, look at him...

By a BIG clock

By a BIG Hotel

By some BIG lights

Paradise Lost in Copenhagen ~ A Fairy Tale (of sorts)

Paradise Lost in Copenhagen: Nightside

Copenhagen is the home to Hans Christian Andersen and the city of fairy tales. It's also been home to the 2011 Elephant Parade this summer. An exciting opportunity for well known and unknown artists alike. After last year's great success in London,  I was keen for my work to be seen in a public place again, and for ordinary people to enjoy and interact with it. So I jumped at the offer to do another elephant. 

Copenhagen is a beautiful city and it would be great to visit my work in situ. It's a fantastic event to be involved in and the money raised goes to helping the ailing Asian Elephant population. 

Dayside ~ Pictures courtesy of The Elephant Parade

So after weeks of working on my bright and colourful Paradise Lost, I crated it up and sent it over there. I couldn't make it to the launch, but I would be visiting two weeks later. And I was very excited. Unfortunately, vandals got there first, and mine along with several others had to be removed from the streets within 4 days of going on display. It has been difficult to repair as the fibreglass was broken and I'm not sure (10 days before the auction) if it's been fixed yet. 

Paradise Lost,  Copenhagen Elephant Parade

I must admit I'm more than a little disappointed by the mindless destruction that occurred. It takes a huge leap of faith to put your artwork on the streets, and sadly it doesn't always pay off.

Night side in miniature version

Day side in miniature version

Not to be deterred I still have hope that it will be fixed in time for the auction. It was just sad going all the way to Copenhagen and not seeing it amongst the others.

Here is the stop frame film I made of the painting. Credit goes to Lucille Sutherland for editing.

I hope we get a happy ending...