Painting a massive Shaun the Sheep wasn’t something I ever thought I would do as an artist. Here’s how it all happened.
Since 2008, Wild in Art has been animating cities across the World by connecting artists and charities, raising millions using public sculptures. In Brighton, the charity, Martlets, has been holding these art trails across the city. Martlets provide essential services to local people with terminal illnesses. They truly do wonderful things and are a fantastic cause. Here is my journey:
2016
Martlets introduced their first art trial in Brighton. The theme was large Snowdogs from Ditchling Artist, Raymond Briggs’ “The Snowman and the Snowdog”, each one painted by a local artist. My children were so tiny back then and loved discovering each of the sculptures across the city. Our local community in Hanover also raised funds to purchase one at auction and this now sits proudly in the garden of the Hanover Community Centre. The trail and the auction raised over £300,000 for this wonderful charity.
2018
I had an exhibition at the Fishing Quarter Gallery, with Suzi Lowe, Suzie Poyntze, Pinki Jones, and Moyra Scott. I remember opening the gallery one morning and seeing artist, Karen Hollis, waiting for her sculpture to be delivered to the seafront. This year, the sculptures were snails. It was so exciting to be there with Karen as the snail was put into place.
That week, I watched thousands of people admiring Karen’s snail and, I thought to myself, maybe I could paint one next time. Again, the trail raised over £300,000.
So after seeing the joy that the snail and snow dogs had brought to the city, I decided to apply for the next trail. I thought my children would still be little for the next trail but, due to COVID, it would be another four years.
September 2022
One night, I was looking through my Facebook feed and a post popped up about a meeting at the Phoenix Art Space in September for the next trail. I was so exciting.
27 September 2022
I remember walking into the meeting and seeing lots of fellow Brighton artists, which put me immediately at ease. This year’s trail would be Shaun By The Sea. I still remember feeling a bit intimidated when I found out it was Shaun the Sheep because he is so iconic and, that week, he had just been sent into space! At the meeting, we met a Shaun that had been secretly decorated by Sarah Arnett to launch. She really had decorated him beautifully and you could really see how you could make each Shaun your own. My first job, that night, was to measure the Shaun and I could see straight away that he would not be fitting in my little studio at home. It was a great evening, talking to artists that had painted snails and snowdogs. I walked home with Katherine Griffin and was so grateful for all her tips on the process of applying, painting, and everything else.
January 2023
All designs for Shaun By The Sea had to be submitted by 6th January. It had been a busy Christmas and.I couldn’t decide whether to submit a floral or landscape design. I faffed about for a couple of days, trying to put my 3D design on some small 2D templates of Shaun to see which looked best. In the end, I went with both, hoping that one of them would make the cut: I had Dawn and Buddy.
And that was it! They were submitted and I just had that horrible wait, which you often get as an artist, while someone decides if you work is chosen…
Early March 2023
Ping! Woo-hoo! My designs had been shortlisted from 250. I felt very excited but it still wasn’t set in stone.
Late March 2023
Amazing news. I received confirmation that my floral design (Buddy) had been selected. I pencilled all the key dates into my diary and my year was starting to get some structure!
21 April 2023
I attended a meet the artists event at Enter Gallery, a contemporary gallery on Bond Street in Brighton, who were sponsoring one of the Shauns. We had all been told that we needed to keep our selection and designs as top secret so I had no idea who would be attending. At the event, I saw all the different design. Of course, no photography was allowed but they all look really fantastic. It was so lovely meeting Kitty McCurdy and to find out she had also been selected.
End of April 2023
It all starts to get serious with a contract signed and agreements not share details on social media, which felt impossible for me as I always love sharing my journey from blank canvas to final exhibition.
5 May 2023
After a couple of weeks of speculating, the location of our secret studio was unveiled; an amazing space in New England House. Although, like the designs, we were unable to share any details at the time. I was thrilled because it was walking distance from my home and, being on the ninth floor, we had the most amazing views across the city. It was a pretty funny (and slightly creepy) sight, walking in and seeing 40 blank Shaun the Sheep. All the rules were explained to us by Emma, the artist liaison from Martlet and the huge job of painting our sheep could begin. Well that’s what most of the artists did but, for me, May is the busiest month of the year. I always help with the Children’s Parade and, this year, I had not one but two venues for Artists Open Houses. So after.a quick hello to my blank Shaun, I had to leave him the corner all blank for a month.
June 2023
After a great May, I was pumped up for painting my Shaun the Sheep. I commuted to the studio, which was exciting in itself, because I have not commuted or worked with others around me for many years. I deliberately took headphones as I like a chat and I didn’t want to distract the other artists. As I walked in I was relieved to see that I was not the only artist that had not made a start, but some of the Shauns had already begun to get their personality.
The pressure was on! Many of the artists in the studio had painted a sculptures before and one person had even finished! As I knew many of my friends and local community were also going to be seeing my Shaun the Sheep, I really wanted to paint something that they would be proud of too.
On the first day of painting, I took a big bag of paints and a selection of brushes with a bucket to pop them in. My first job was to sand the sheep to make sure the surface was all even. I then gave him a wipe down to remove all the dust. It was then time to pause and to have a look at the other artists’ work. Everyone was so generous with their time tips for painting.
My sheep was in the corner of the studio by the window. I had deliberately chosen this spot so the light would be good. However, in hindsight, it wasn’t great because it was absolutely boiling hot, painting in the direct sun but there was at least a nice south facing view. The heat also made the paint dry very quickly!
In my corner, I was next to Kitty McCurdy and Louise Mulgrew. We were all new to the process and all taking very different styles and techniques. So with Shaun sanded and dusted, it was time to be brave and get the first layers of paint on. I knew I wanted to have energy so this was no time to be timid but, as you can imagine, having a massive blank sheep staring at you is a bit intimidating.
I set up my paints in colour order around the trotters/hooves (or whatever sheep have on their feet!) in size order and decided to pick out the biggest brush and slap on the first bold layer. I often work through the rainbow, when I am starting a painting so the first colours to be vigorously added were red, orange, and yellow. After the first session, poor old Shaun looked a right mess but I knew these first layers had to be expressive.
Throughout June, I skipped to the studio, taking lunch with me so I could really get into the flow. Pinks, greens, blues and violets all started to be added and my sheep was now fully covered in crazy colours.
A day or so later, Emma told me that the BNJC would be sponsoring my sheep. I had no idea who this was; I was just told I had a contact called Jasmine. It turns out, she is absolutely lovely. She knew my work so was drawn to my design. What is the BNJC, I hear you ask. Well, it’s a brand new Jewish Centre in Hove. Jasmine invited me to visit and we had a lovely brunch together in the new kosher restaurant, Novelino, at the centre and a tour of their fantastic facilities including a new synagogue. As BNJC’s main donor is none other than Tony Bloom, owner of Brighton and Hove Albion, I decided to rename my sheep Bloom :)
As the days went by, my painting became more and more defined. Instead of just abstract looking brushwork, blooms and leaves started to grow. Outside, all the flowers and leaves were so glorious around Brighton so I was completely inspired. Although, at the beginning, I was completely intimidated, it was now one of the easiest things that I had ever painting, with the paint just flowing.
By now, it was racing towards the deadline for completing the sculptures but, with some long days and late nights, he was finished!
End of June 2023
The sheep were all complete so all the artists had a one day meet up to see all the sheep in their full glory. It was great to see all the smaller Shauns too, which had been painted by various people in the local community. They were all very cute. And then the Shauns were all packed up and taken away and that was it for a few months. I say that was it but all the sheep had a very busy time. Firstly, they were varnished. For some earlier trails, the artists would have to varnish their own sheep but, it’s not a nice job, so we were all very happy it was being done for us. Massive thanks to local company T Reeves and Son for this! The sheep then had a photoshoot with images being uploaded to Shaun by the Sea app and they were ready to go!
September 2023
Throughout the lovely long summer, I somehow resisted the temptation to share photos of Bloom on social media. I then received the exciting news that Bloom would be installed at the Pepper Pot in Brighton. The Pepper Pot is a very intriguing building in the Queens Park/Hanover area of Brighton.
On the installation date, I gathered a few friends to watch him craned in. Brighton was super busy that week because of a heat wave and this meant that it took a very long time for all the Shauns on the seafront to be installed. This meant that, unfortunately, Bloom’s installation was delayed until the next day.
The next morning, I started to receive various reports that Bloom has been spotted all around the city on the back of a lorry. He had been seen at the Seafront, up at Preston Park and also at the Duke of Yorks. I was so excited so I ran to the Pepperpot on Queens Park Road. I waited, waited some more, and then I received a message that he was on his way. It was so exciting! I was up and down the road every time I heard a large vehicle coming and then, finally, he arrived. By this time, the other Shauns had been installed so he looked a bit lonely on the back of the truck.
It was lovely to meet some of the Sussex Transport crew, who were driving the truck and operating the crane. Bloom was all safely strapped up and then slowly lifted into the air and placed gently in front of the Pepper Pot. Some lovely friends were there to capture the moment and even a builder at the top of some nearby scaffolding sent some photos to me too. As soon as Bloom was in place, people started gathering to have a look. It was a weird feeling, having him out in the wild after spending so much 1-to-1 time together. However, the reception he received from everyone was so positive, meaning I could relax.
Well! That was until Saturday morning, when I received a WhatsApp message from a fellow artist, who is an early bird and had found my Bloom had been vandalised. I immediately jumped out of bed and ran round to Bloom. Thankfully, as soon as I arrived, I could see he would be OK but would need a little attention. I stayed with him until someone from Martlets could come along. Luckily for me, the lovely people at the Sussex Peasant (a food market at the Pepper Pot) were setting up and they kindly helped me. Martlets arrived to assess the damage and took the difficult decision to take Bloom away for repairs. It was the opening day of trail so I was absolutely gutted. There was then. flurry of interest from the local press. I couldn’t believe it had happened :(
Thankfully, I received news that Bloom would be repaired quickly and back in situ soon. I received news on the Monday that he was on his way back so I again ran round to the Pepper Pot. I met some lovely people from Martlets who had delivered him and also Emma (Artists Liaison). As soon as he was in place, he started receiving visitors. I live very nearby so I occasionally check in on him.
So Bloom will be happily sitting outside the Pepper Pot until 5th November. If you are visiting Brighton, please download the app and visit all the amazing sheep dotted around the city and please tag me on any photos you post on social media. I would love to see them.
I hope you love Bloom as much as I loved painting him.
Here are some dates for your diary:
27 September (9am) - Fatboy Slim will be running his half marathon around the sheep, starting with Bloom!
24-26 November - Farewell Weekend. See all the sheep at the Syndicate Rooms, Brighton Centre (Entrance on Russell Road)
27 November - Auction day. This is the big one! The Shauns will be auctioned to raise funds for Martletts. Please register to bid!
