Friday 24 February 2012

The Big Egg Hunt, Find our egg!

Click here to see our entry on the Big Egg Hunt website

Set to be the largest and most interactive public art display London has ever seen, over 200 giant eggs have been hidden across the City in this massive charity event presented by Faberge.


 The charities behind this adventurous event are The Elephant Family and Action for Children. The same people who did the giant elephants in 2010 and giant cows a few years ago. The Big Egg Hunt is a charitable event that will raise funds for vital conservation issues and help secure a future for some of the UK’s most vulnerable and neglected children.

You'll see from checking out the website that there are some very big names involved and some utterly amazing eggs. You can download maps and apps and join in to win prizes and raise money.


THE ARDEN EGG

Our finished egg at the Fairlyte studio
Our egg is number 189 and is hidden in Egg Zone 10 - SOUTHBANK.

Here's a CLUE:  This design was painted at the same time Shakespeare's plays were first hitting the London stage.

I haven't been up to London to find it yet but I'll be joining the hunt soon.


Meanwhile Here's some stuff about our egg!

Shhh...I'll tell you a secret....we're about to launch a fabric and wallpaper collection with Zoffany. It is called Arden and is inspired by Elizabethan wall paintings. Pop back in March for the full story!

Our Arden egg features one of the fabrics from the collection. A beautiful printed linen in 5 colourways called Canterbury.

The design is based on a gorgeous Elizabethan multivine that was painted on the wall of a house in Canterbury around 1600. The house is now demolished but you can see the original wall section at Canterbury museum.

This is a rare treat indeed as these wall paintings are extremely rare.

Canterbury museum wall painting

Wall paintings were highly fashionable in Elizabethan England and, as you may already know, that's what I specialise in with my colleague David Cutmore.

Learn more about this design in one of my previous postings: Mermaids & Multivines

Here are some work in progress pics from the studio.

We plastered the background to give a textured surface

Dave painting free hand outlines of the design
Me painting the egg using natural pigment paints. (In the background a few clues about the Arden Collection designs)

Dave painting the egg.

Detail of the egg after waxing


A sneak preview of the Canterbury linen for Zoffany
Happy Hunting!