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/

Shrine Art Installation for The Great Rinsing

In the tunnelling cellars of the Pump House, preparations for The Great Rinsing are taking place. This site specific event combines live performance with film, sound and installations, presented by Wimborne's Community Theatre.

Today, within the pitch black labyrinth of the Pump House, I composed my installation into the opening of a large pipe, about one foot diameter, curving down into the unknown and beyond.

This piece is called 'The Journey and The Home'. It combines illustration, poetry, wire work and three books; an old encyclopedia opened on the page of a world map, a old poetry book, and a miniature book the wire figurine is reading, titled 'The Journey and The Home by Hazel Evans'. The backdrop illustration of a quirky house is lit from behind, and the wire person is sitting reading in the silhouette of the poetry graffitied over the image of the house.



The Journey and The Home
From this place I call home I can see the sky,
A wide open space where clouds powder by,
An emptiness so full with thoughts left half thunk,
A glass of tasty travels not even half drunk.
So no matter where I go on this voyage of me,
There are still pages unwritten about this journey.
Still places to go and faces to know,
Places to plant seeds and watch them grow.
No matter where I go there will always be a home,
In the memories and words as I sit here alone.

Make of it what you will, any thoughts and interpretations welcome.

Lions Let Loose!

Well after the wondeful news the other day that all my lions were out and about doing their thing with their sponsors, I found out yesterday that two of my lions are now going to the Savoy for a big celebrity Birthday party next week. How chuffed am I? Pretty chuffed indeed I must say.


I hope they are having a fab time in the divine luxury of the Savoy and are getting the best five star treatment ... must admit ... wish I was going too, am sure they would like to be accompanied by their artist creator, don't you? Hopefully I will get some fabulous pictures I can post on the blog anyway.


Anyway, I shall wait eagerly for the return of my boys next week and look forward to our party before the launch of the exhibition, where all the lions, artists and sponsors will be there ... I am very excited at the prospect of meeting my sponsors; Britannia Leatherbarrows, The Cumberland Hotel and Landrover UK.

My lions are touring before the exhibiton

All the lions are finished ... wow what a sense of acomplishment. Even better I found out that all my lions are going out travelling before the exhibition, Britannia is in Southampton for a business event, Gemdeco is in the BIC tonight for Bouremouth Pride Awards ceremony, and next week Born to be Free 'Freedom Flighter' is going to the London Savoy Hotel for a special Birthday for Virginia McKenna, Ambassador for the Born Free charity... Feeling really pleased about all of this :-)

Hazel's Lionistic and Illustrative Art

I have been delighted to have the opportunity to paint my lions in Lighthouse over the last month. They are pretty much all finished and can be seen in the Pride in Bournemouth exhibition throughout the summer starting from 25th June.
Once the final few coats of varnish have been put onto my lovely lions, I will be back in Lighthouse, illustrating performances and continuing my R&D at lighthouse in preparation for my forthcoming art work. I look forward to developing my illustrative work and am delighted to have had the opportunity to be commissioned three lions as as you can see they communicate themes and styles of interest from my own art practice.
Throughout the process of painting live in Lighthouse foyer, I had a portfolio of my illustrations so far from my work at Lighthouse. Thank you for all the positive feedback I have had from people interacting with me and my art. I look forward to exhibiting the originals later on during my residency at Lighthouse.
Below are three pictures of my finished lions.
Best wishes
Hazel