A huge part of Octopus Ahoy! is our amazing professional artists – we simply couldn’t have the trail without them and the wonderful works of art they’ve produced on our octopus sculptures. We’ve got a range of painters at different levels of experience, and years under their belt, involved… including one celebrating a bit of milestone.
Art trails are no strange to Mik Richardson, and his three sponsored designs for Octopus Ahoy! have helped him achieve a current total of one hundred sculptures painted for public art trails! We’re delighted to have helped him reach such a fantastic milestone – a whopping century of art trail sculptures across the UK, helping raise money for some amazing charities in projects such as Stand Tall for Colchester Zoo, Wild in Art’s Go Elephants and many more.
Mik’s three selected designs will be hitting the streets of Tendring and Essex this summer, alongside the other artist designs. His cosmic ‘Journey of a Thousand Stars’ design (sponsored by Dura Composites) commemorates the amazing journey of the Mayflower, using just the stars and constellations to navigate by. Loveable ‘Octopuss in Boots’ (sponsored by Harwich International Port) is a fun creation around the famous character Puss in Boots and will showcase scenes from Harwich to America on its base. Whereas the quirky ‘Sailor Buoy’ (sponsored by Tendring District Council) gives another nod to the Mayflower crew and features comical style marine life imagery.
Mik has said himself, “Public art trails have really formed a large part of my life over the last decade and they are always great fun to be involved with. It’s a fantastic way to get art in front of people and help people engage with it. I enjoy the whole process, from designing the artwork that fits the theme of the trail, through to seeing them out on the streets. The huge amount these projects raise for charity too just tops off the experience for me.”
At the end of the project on 5th September, all large Octopus Ahoy! Sculptures, including Mik’s, will go up for auction to raise vital funds for local charities across Tendring and Essex.
Follow Octopus Ahoy! on social media for updates and sneak peeks of all our fabulous octopus designs…