Pride in Bournemouth Lions - Hazel's Mini Tour

Last week I decided, as it was sunny and the floods had drained away, to go and visit my lions once more in Bournemouth before they get taken away for their final farewell at the charity auction on September 18th at The Pavillion in Bournemouth.

I must admit I have grown rather fond of my lions and have had so many wonderful comments form people about my painting designs, it has truely been wonderful being part of such a great event and I will be sad to see them go. Hopefully my sponsors will buy them back so I will they will remain in my town for me and all to enjoy... I'll let you know if I find out if any are staying in Bournemouth.

I was awarded three lion commissions by Pride in Bournemouth, in association with The Born Free Foundation for the public art event in Bournemouth June - September 2011. My illustrative style is carried through into the designs painted onto the lions.

'Britannia' - Britannia LeatherBarrows - Inspired by travel and the unity of countries, this design sees the blending of flags and abstracted forms of the shapes of different countries flowing around the contours of the lion.

 'Gem Deco' - The Cumberland Hotel Bournemouth - Inspired by the magnificent Art Deco building and luxurious interior decoration of The Cumberland, this lion features the icon designs of sunbeams and palm trees of the Art Deco and Retro eras. This lion was chosen to feature in the Bournemouth Pride awards ceremony in the BIC, Bournemoouth's Internationl Centre, in spring 2011.
'Born to be Free' - Landrover - This design incorporates the strong brand colours of Landrover into a beautiful illustrative butterfly design with the words 'Born to be Free' flowing through the design. This prize-winning design symbolises freedom to live and is in line with ethics of Landrover and the Born Free foundation. This Lion was also chosen to attend Virginia McKenna's celebrity 80th Birthday held at the Savoy London in spring 2011.

Sketching Fearne

On Sunday 14th August I went to go and see Fearne and test out sketching to their music. This fabulous band from Bournemouth, will headlining The Artathon as part of my exhibition The Monochronium in Lighthouse Poole on the 26th October 2011. They will be playing as a backdrop of inspriation to myself and a number of collaborating artists through the night as I work on the challenge of non-stop art for 36hours.
Winners of the 2011 Dorset Music Awards, Fearne have appeared at Larmer Tree Festival, Beach Break Live and have toured with Athlete, Feeder, Nizlopi and many more but what makes Fearne unique is the natural ability to make even the most extravagant pop song feel intimate. Principal songwriter Alex performs with his audience in his palm and his heart on his sleeve and is perfectly complimented by the multi instrumentalists Nick, Adam and Darren.


Heavily tipped for big things by BBC Introducing Sussex as a "Folk/Pop band with a moral compass". Just look out for the band with the lucky gold cat ...


So as you can imagine, I am really looking forward to these guys' music feeding inspiration into my artwork and forming a core interest to the diverse line up for The Monochronium Exhibition.


Lighthouse Poole 22-29 October 2011
Fearne are playing the evening of 26th October for The Artathon


For more details visit the events page
www.facebook.com/HazelEvansArtist
http://www.hazelevans.co.uk/