Lions, the BIC and santa for one night only!

Christmas is almost apon us, with snow in the sky, the same old Christmas songs bellowing from the shops and every advert on TV connected to Christmas from the food, to glamerous dresses and the must have something or other...Poppies have been very busy with wonderful workshops making the essential decorations, gifts and using the most amount of glitter ever seen!

So keeping with the Christmas theme, every stage for the big Light Switch-on needed a 'Santa Paws' lion ( stay with me, all will be explained!) - I was up for the challenge.

'The Bournemouth Tourist Awards were being held at BIC Thursday night and it would be great for an artist to be painting a lion at the same time'. Armed with paints, brushes and a design,

Santa paws was painted during the awards with many lovely comments from the invited! (& finished off the next day as well!).

'Santa Paws' now lives on the stage in the sqaure to promote intrigue and conversation. Santa Paws proved popular with the crowd during the switch-on and even Jules from Heart FM Breakfast couldn't resist his charms.

Coles Miller Solicitors sponsor a lion!

"What?" I hear you cry? A solicitors and a lion in the same sentance..read on! WOW!
Coles Miller have sponsored me to create a stunning mosaic lion for the 'Pride in Bournemouth' next year.
The law firm, work in many different ways within the local community and this will be a new way to reach the community!
The lion will be mosaiced by the public, staff and with a little help and guidance by me next year in Bournemouth centre. The design is still top secret and all will be revealed after Christmas...watch this space!

Julia's House butterfly mosaic

Here is the finished result - not the best light..what do you think?

One cold and windy Saturday, a couple of weeks' ago, I had such a lovely day working with the siblings, affected children, staff and families creating a butterfly mosaic for the hospice's new extension. The butterfly was a Dorset Blue flying around the heather (shaped as hearts). Most people think that hospices are sad places, but as Julia's house logo states 'A happy place' is just that due to the people and wonderful atmosphere as you walk in the door.

Much laughter, glitter, other activities, butterfly cakes ( see the connection there?!) and sparkle mosaic tiles, everyone had a great time. The butterfly uses much calmer colours, mirrors to reflect the light and give the butterfly slight movement. I will leave you with this thought:

Martin Edwards, Chief Executive wrote something so beautiful in the lastest newsletter that I would like to share it with you:

'The butterfly is the symbol of the children's hospice movement. For butterflies, like the children whom we help during their short lives, are not with us for long. Like the children, they are beautiful but fragile. When they are gone we are much poorer for their loss, and long winter darkness follows. Yet they leave behind vibrant, colourful memories for all who knew them, because while they were among us they lit up our world.'

The Dolphin Shopping centre winners..a little taste of fame!

A little taste of fame!
Following the release of the charity Christmas cards, we simply needed to let the world know how wonderful this project really was with a press afternoon. All the five winners had their photos taken and each winner was presented with a prize of a £50 voucher per and £100 voucher for each school.
The smiles were almost as big as Rudolph's!


Can you spot the winning design in the group from St.Mary's Catholic School? Many of these designs were also transformed into floor vinyls that can also be seen in the centre (upper floor). What a talented lot!

The Dolphin Shopping Centre Children's Christmas card project

Wow! What a couple of months we're had! So many wonderful projects that show creativity isn't dead, but a shining beacon.

I have been lucky enough to have worked with 5 amazing local schools in the Poole area, designing simply the best Christmas cards for The Dolphin Shopping Centre Christmas Card project.

The project involved many talented children designing Christmas cards, that capture the essence of what Christmas is truly about, from robins, Father Christmas, decorated Christmas trees galore, angels, traditional subjects....these cards simply rock!

The Dolphin Shopping Centre have pulled out the stops - 5 winning designs have now been printed into cards to be sold for two wonderful local charities: Lighthouse and Julia's House. Both charities really make a difference. What a great way to raise really needed funds from local school children designing fab. works of art, to then be sold in the Dolphin Shopping Centre, bought by local people to enjoy - a 'win win' situation!

Not only have 5 winning designs been printed into Christmas cards, but 60 designs have also been printed into A1 floor vinyls that will create a magical 'floor gallery' for all to see!

Working with the children, it's evident that there is a great new wave of creative talent just starting out.

Each pack of 5 designs, will be available to buy for £2.99 from shops in the centre..smiles all around!

Lions are coming to Bournemouth..

Not long now before the big launch of the pride in Bournemouth 'The mane Event'. Over 50 lions will be decorated and placed outside for all to enjoy next year in the streets in Bournemouth. Have a look at the website: www.prideinbournemouth.com for more details. I promise to post some news tomorrow...fingers crossed some photos too..

Bugs, seaside and mosaics!

We here at Poppies have been very busy with fabulous mosaic workshops working with Children's Centres and lots of sticking and having fun! Stokewood Children's Centre have been working hard to create 2 mosaics - the first based on ground bugs such as ants, beetles and the other flying bugs such as dragonflies, ladybirds.
Southbourne children's centre have been sticking tiles into their 'By the Sea' design with land train too!
Many other projects have also been started and are in the process of being completed..more info. coming soon!

Poppies have been busy..

Poppies have been very busy this summer after the auction of the wonderful Kubella the Seaside elephant mosaiced for The London Elephant Parade.

We have been running fun and messy childrens' art workshops during the summer holidays including exciting eco projects such as painting eco bags to save using plastic ones, creating eco cities using household recycling, making memory boxes for ' found treasure' found during the holidays. We have been mosaicing panels based on drawings from 'Bug week', which will showcase our native garden bugs we can all find and help to survive. Making bee hotels and ladybird homes, along with sewing wild flowers all help the survival of bugs and are a simple way to help, as well as being fun to make and watch!

We also enjoyed making many hundreds of badges to the very popular 'Big Fest' festival in Andover last weekend, with lots of happy children drawing. colouring and stickers galore in a beautiful Indian tent.

Big Fest had loads of cool eco stuff too.. from willow weaving, making bee hotels, wild flower quizes, free eco bags with refillable water bottles from Southern Water, recycling challenges, hand painted flags, storytelling with a great big stage for music and dancers to entertain.

We have also enjoyed working with the wonderful Children charity Julia's House, a hospice for children based in Corfe Mullen and made many badges, handbag mirrors, keyrings during their summer BBQ at the rather beautiful The Orangary in Winborne, with the sun shining, the smell of BBQ in the air, magicians entertaining, a great time was had by one and all!

We are looking forward to creating a Dorset blue butterfly mosaic at Julia's house in a couple of weeks to brighten a bare brickwall in the new extention, with help from children, thier siblings, families and staff. Watch this space for photos after 22nd August!

4 million raised!

Well, the latest update from the elephant family is that £4 million has been raised from the London Elephant Parade, that's double what the charity hoped for!
I am still waiting to hear who and where Kubella will be re homed. The charity have written to all the winning bidders to ask their permission to tell the world and the artist whom they are or if they want to stay anonymous...fingers crossed, we will know soon. I promise to keep you posted.
In the meantime, Poppies have been running some wonderful other charity projects, mainly mosaics in Dorset and I will post photos and details later.

Kubella the Star and the final journey..The Grand Auction

Well what a day! Kubella was finally sold at The Grand Auction in a marquee in the grounds of the Chelsea Royal Hospital yesterday for a stunning 20K. The day was perfect. The sun shone, the champers flowed, the live jazz played in the grounds and many celebraties mingled amongst the elephants including Terence Conran, Tommy Hilfiger, Rula Lenska, before the big event. I went to check Kubella looked her best and was surprised to see she was gone!!

Just the stand left with her footprints..slight panic came over me. I looked around and just couldn't see her - the only place left was the marquee..

The marquee was a sea of orange and shocking pink tables with a handful of elephants lining the edges. Kubella was at the entrance to the main room of the marquee looking gorgeous, panic over!

There she was at the entrance to the main room with a big vase of flowers in case she got hungry, placed in front of the air conditioning in case she got hot and in front of the fire hydrants in case she needed to be a hero or had to stop someone at the entrance.

I was very nervous as she was lot 26, after Julien MacDonald's Bertie, so a couple of glasses of champers were consumed and small round sandwiches were served, along with bite sized smoked salmon bagels and shots of cold pea soup... Then her photo appeared on the screen and Harry Dalmaney of Sotheby's started the bidding...within minutes she was sold!

Unfortunately I couldn't see who brought her or if it was telephone bidder..but will hopefully find out where her final home will be this week from the Elephant Family..maybe she will be coming home to Poole, brought by Lush or even Sunseekers or live in someones grounds backing onto the sea with boats in tow..a restaurant in a harbour somewhere...fingers crossed Iwill be able to get a photo to share...

Kubella has taken many many hours, weeks, months of TLC and thanks to everyone who has helped along the way..mum, family and friends, who have helped listened and made tea, Reed Harris for their donated dark blue tiles that look great, Azzura for the discounted tiles for this project, the public for helping to stick and the wonderful crowd at the sadly now closed Kube gallery in Poole for the space, help and constant tea and the wonderful support from everyone!

A day and a half before Kubella is finally sold at auction on Saturday and goes off to her new home. She is currently £5750 on the online auction site, I think she might make more on the day too!
Fingers crossed she goes to a wonderful new home, where she can settle in well. I will keep you updated! The Grand Auction is looking to be a rather grand affair, with live jazz and a champers lunch. I promise to take photos and post them here.

Kubella the twinking star at the Royal Chelsea Hospital

All the outside elephants are together, in the ground of the Royal Chelsea Hospital, on the area used for the Chelsea Flower Show!

Kubella getting a pat from a Chelsea pensioner

Kubella in line with some of the other elephants..

Well, Kubella is currently at wait for it...£4251 on the online auction site http://www.givinglots.co.uk, with one whole week before she is auctioned at the live Grand Auction.

I visited her on Friday to make her toes twinkled, the small missing piece in her tail was fixed and she had a polish ahead of the auction in the grounds of the Royal Chelsea Hospital.

Whilst I was there, she had many admirers with wonderful comments like 'She's my favourite, out of all the elephants'. One couple even asked if they could take her home on the coach (they live in Bristol). Kubella did twinkle in the wonderful sunshine and seems to be enjoying being with the herd.

I wonder where she live after the auction? By the seaside somewhere, someone's mansion gardens, in a shop or even in a lobby, maybe she will have to get a passport and end up somewhere else in the world...well not long now, before Kubella's great journey ends!

Elephant news update

Kubella is now up to a bid of wait for it...£3251 online at www.givinglots.co.uk and there are 3 weeks to go before the Grand Auction where Kubella is one of the lucky ones, to be auctioned live by of Sotheby's Harry Dalmeny.
The Grand Auction should be rather special, as the tickets are £75 each! I will endevour to take photos for you all to see.
Farwell to the elephants on the streets of London..
All the elephants will go 'extinct' on 20th June- which means they will be uninstalled and taken away to the Royal Hospital of Chelsea. On the 25th, 26th and 28th, all elephants will be available for viewing to the public. In the period from 21st June until the beginning of July, The Elepahtn family will be arranging for all the elephants to be restored to saleable condition.
Kubella will soon be on her new journey to another part of the city and then on to a happy home within the next month.
I will be going to give her a clean and tidy up on 25th June before the auction, so hopefully she will shine!
She has received many lovely comments this week, including:
'Kubella is by far and away the best looking elephant I have seen to date, and should generate some good bids'.

Bidding of kubella

I have just had a look online at :www.londonelephantparade.org and checked the online bidding and Kubella has a bid of £1500 to date. She will be part of the live auction of 3rd July at The Royal Hospital and fingered crossed she will raise a good amount for the charity and of course, find a good home to live!

Meet the artist day & bidding news!

Kubella loves bananas!

Kubella looks longingly at Brendan's pint and bats her eyelashes at him...

Brendan's shares his pint

Mark Shand- the Principal Trustee & me laughing /The Golden elephants from the indoor picnic

Kubella makes friends and simply loved the hugs she got! It makes her happy..

I had a lovely day yesterday as part of The Elephant Family's 'Meet The Artist Day'. I chatted to a wide range of people who were fascinated by Kubella and the Elephant Parade. Some were armed with a route map, pen and camera and were on a mission to spot as many as elephants as they could in the beautiful sunshine in London. French tourists, an Ozzie couple living here, office workers who see her everyday, children, families, groups of friends, and some who were simply intrigued to see elephants at London landmarks.

The response was brilliant, just so many wonderful comments, such as 'Your elephant is stunning, she's the best I've seen, she's gorgeous, I simply love her!'...and the hugs she received says it all, see the photos! She also enjoyed a clean, some bananas, sweets and tried some Guinness thanks to Brendan. She also enjoyed the tickle that Josh Perry gave her looking for the two secret tiles in her tummy!

All the artists enjoyed a picnic in Covent Garden warehouse, as a 'thank you' from the elephant family, complete with fake grass and knee heigh golden elephants and Pimms. Mark Shand, principal Trustee, said it had been reported that there are only two things going on in London, one was the election and the other was the Elephant Parade and as the election has finished, it only left The London Elephant Parade!

The big news today...I have just had a look on the bidding site for the online bids for Kubella and so far she has...drum roll please £1,000! The link is on the www.londonelephantparade.org in the text part and Kubella is number 181.

The stunning elephants of the parade..

Living in Bournemouth is great, but it does mean that I haven't been able to go elephant spotting, but will the power of flickR and blogs I have been able to see some of the herd: MoonInTheGlitter's photostream has some of the elephant inclusing the lovely Kubella:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/merialc/sets/72157623894673675/show/with/4590018902/
or have a look at the blog of Murphyzville, or muphyz on flickr for some great photos.
I am part of Meet the Artist next weekend, where I will to stand next to my elephant for a while and talk to passers by!!

Kubella is St. Christopher's Place, London, her new home!

Kubella causing a stir!


Hannah and Kubella friends forever!

How gorgeous I am!

I think Kubella has taken a fancy to one of the Eco men!( or his Bottom!!)

No Kubella, be good!

Kubella looking like a star and turning heads!

Kubella the seaside elephant finally has a a new home in London, as part of the London Elephant Parade 2010. She is now in situ in St. Christopher's Place, off Oxford Street, opp. Bond St. Station, a little oasis of calm in London, with a rich cafe culture.

She is looking gorgeous and I'm rather proud of her and the community project : ) Hannah Perry has been busy recording her move from a London warehouse, where she was stored to her new home with a series of photos of the event. Thanks Hannah, brilliant timing!!

Kubella is elephant number 181 on the route map of the elephants. The map can be downloaded from: www.londonelephantparade.co.uk. She will be there until 23rd June, before she is moved to Chelsea Hospital for the auction. (where the Chelsea Flower show is held!) for a week of public viewing before being sold at auction by sotheby's.

Kubella goes to St.Christopher's Place, how posh!

KUBELLA will be located in St. Christopher's Place, just off of Oxford Street, in Westminster. A beautiful area for her to shine and show off her wonderful mosaic coat!
She will arrive there on the 2nd May and will remain there until 23rd June, after which the elephants will go'extinct'. From 23rd June to 3rd July Kubella will be displayed with the entire herd at the Royal Hospital grounds in Chelsea. Kubella along with her new freinds in the Parade will be plotted on the official route map, which will be available from 30th April 2010and you will be able to see the exact location on this map.

Kubella the star - only 1 month to go!!

Well, the Elephant Parade in London is gathering steam and excitement, only 1 month until all the now 258 elephants will be on show somewhere in London on bank holiday 3rd May.

The Parade will be London's biggest ever public art event.

Kubella is now somewhere in London awaiting her final place, fingers crossed somewhere near the Thames that will show off her twinkling shoes made from mirror and thousands of carefully stuck mosaic tiles. A map of all the elephants should be released by the end of April.

In the meantime before all the wonderful 'elles' goes outside in London, Kubella is now the star of her very own video so kindly made by Cracking Media for You

Tube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBovkeqSIug

After the elephants have completed their 2 month parade, they will all be sold at a glittering event at an auction at Sotherby's, which aims to raise £1 million benefitting 15 UK conservation charities working in Asia via The Elephant Family charity.

'Kubella' will mix among London's society, including the Duchess of York, Princess of Kent, Joanna Lumley, to name a few.

Goldie Hawn said:

"Asian elephants captured my heart years ago. Anyone who loves elephants, and i do, will love the Elephant Parade. It is not only the most beautiful, colourful and fun campaign, it holds the key to saving the majestic species from extinction. I am a proud PATRON OF ELEPHANT FAMILY; their hearts are in the right place, doing the good work. I urge everyone to support them by getting involved with Elephant Parade. What a magical adventure with a real purpose".

Many people of who know me, know I am simply mad about elephants and have in my lifetime, seen both African and Asian elephants. They are clever and wonderful animals who deserve to be safe in the wild.

This has been a wonderful community project, where I have met and worked with wonderful people, drank many, many cups of tea at Kube gallery and enjoyed the whole process. Let's hope Kubella raises a good amount for the charity and there has been suggestion that Kubella could come back to Poole to live out her days in a wonderful community. I am working on that one...watch this space! (Thanks to Penny, who stated the ball rolling by writing a lovely letter to Poole council!)

'One World, One Beat' World thinking Day with Girl Guides

We had a lovely Saturday creating a celebrational mosaic (photo to come) with many rainbows, brownies, girl guides, senior members as part of the 100th birthday celebrations at Wiltshire college, a great big space for many hundreds that joined in from the South West of England. There was over 18,500 members of Girlguiding enjoying 'One World One Beat' thinking day over the Uk.
All the participants including leaders were a joy to work with! The finished mosaic will be hung at South West region HQ St Anns Manor in the gardens in the coming weeks (depending on the weather - as it was trying to snow as we were driving home!).

Update and waving Kubella off to her new life..

So here are the final hours of Kubella..

I had mixed blessings when the Eco men and their van came to collect Kubella over a week ago; on one hand she is at the start of her new journey in London with the herd of 249 other elephants, but on a personal note it meant the end of working on her with the local community ( 160+ people stuck tiles onto her somewhere!) and the wonderful working environment of the now sadly closed Kube gallery and the staff there.

I do have had an update- all the elephants will be in London somewhere ( The charity whom Kubella was mosaiced for The Elephant Family)from Monday 3rd May 2010. They are awaiting planning permission from the City of London and surrounding areas and then will finally let us know where she will be. She will also feature in a book sold in Selfridges and be auctioned at Sotherby's later in the summer to raise funds for this charity.

Vistors and grouting!

Kubella is almost a star in her own right, with a visit from the Mayor & Mayoress of Poole no less! Many people have taken photos of her, well she is starting to look stunning. I have started the grouting and will try to finish tomorrow. Here are the images..including Emily hopkins and Tigger eating Kubella's banana!

Kubella is taking shape

The last week has been very busy at Kube gallery. Kubella has had loads of mosaic tiles applied and is starting to take shape. She was visited by a conservative MP on Friday, I will post the photo a little later in the week, when I have it!

Karen and members a senior citzen home visited (Karen and Mr.March in photo) and were a wizz at sticking on tiles, followed by a nice cup of tea.

Kubella will be finished this week, I hope to start grouting on Wednesday, as the mayor of Poole is visiting on Friday to see the finished product..so, I need to say thanks in advance to the helpers!! Keep the tea coming...!!

Her 'wave' inspired mosaic coat is taking shape and just awaiting the last dark blue to be applied to her back and some of her trunk. Small details to be finished around the legs..

Saturday was a busy day at Kube as you might have seen in the press, due to the protest of the closure of the gallery. It was also a productive day for sticking on tiles for Kubella! Hannah added some hidden 'special tiles' and laods of other ones too! Thanks Hannah!!

Bex helped today and Kubella now has a rather lovely blue bottom and tail! Thanks Bex!

Kubella has had many visitors this week and here are a few photos: