AN ART-FANATIC is digging out her finest paint brushes in preparation for a ten-week charity exhibition.
Amy Crabtree from Coventry will be exhibiting her artwork as part of a free public art trail of bear sculptures called The Big Sleuth.
The artist behind Cakes with Faces specialises in digital arts and creates t-shirts, hoodies, dresses and cushions with Japanese kawaii inspired designs.
Her design for The Big Sleuth, entitled Straw-bear-y, encompasses a similar style, using bright colours to bring life to the streets of Birmingham.
Amy has used ‘Straw-bear-y’ to showcase different characters and personalities – and hopes her design will make audiences smile.
The Big Sleuth, which is named after the collective noun for a group of bears, is the sequel to The Big Hoot, which attracted more than 800,000 visitors in 2015 and raised more than £625,000 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.
Amy was also part of the 2015 exhibition and her design Tea T-Owl was sold for £6,000 at the auction.
The exhibition will be presented by the charity and Wild in Art and will see up to 100 giant bear statues leave their paw prints throughout the city before being auctioned to raise money for the charity.
The Coventry artist said: “I am delighted to once again be supporting Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity through their second public art trail, I had great fun working on The Big Hoot and I’m excited to see my second sculpture take to the streets.
“Last time my design was positioned near the hospital and I was told that lots of children who visited Birmingham Children’s Hospital would stop and look at my owl, and it would make them smile. I want Straw-bear-y to create the same effect.”
Her creativity will be enjoyed once again over the summer, as the trail is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the city, encouraging people to discover areas they may not have explored before.
Elinor Eustace, deputy director of fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity said: “The Big Sleuth is really important to Birmingham Children’s Hospital as not only will it bring visitors into our fantastic region from all over the UK but we also hope to raise over half a million pounds to support the pioneering work we do here every day.”
Sally-Ann Wilkinson, director of Wild in Art said: “We’re delighted to have some incredibly talented artists involved in The Big Sleuth including Amy and we’re so excited to see her creation on the trail this summer.
“The project will transform the streets, parks and public spaces of Birmingham and beyond into a fun, free art gallery taking people on a creative journey through the city.”
The exhibition will start on July 10 and will run for ten weeks.
