TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR CHARITY AND WHAT YOU DO?

EYECAN is Jersey’s only charity focused solely on supporting Islanders living with impaired sight. We work closely with all age groups, from infants through to the elderly enabling people with a sight impairment and their families to benefit from tailored support, social opportunity, and activities.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO TAKE PART IN THE TORTOISE TRAIL?

EYECAN holds weekly art groups for members. The Tortoise Trail gave each member the chance to paint a segment of the shell. The Tortoise Trail is a fantastic, inclusive community event which provides an opportunity for different groups to work together to support an amazing charity.

WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR DESIGN?

EYECAN’s tortoise, named Iris by our members, was inspired by the endangered species Durrell seeks to protect. Our members used bright colours, as strong contrast helps people living with impaired sight to distinguish between things. The members painted a large eye on the base to replicate the EYECAN logo. They also enlarged the eyes of all the animals used in the design.

WHAT MEDIUMS WERE USED WHEN DECORATING YOUR TORTOISE?

EYECAN members used a mix of bright coloured acrylic paint on each segment of the shell. Each segment was outlined with black card to make them stand out. The contrasting colours make it easier for people living with impaired sight to appreciate the beautiful artwork.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO COMPLETE YOUR TORTOISE?

Work on Iris started at the beginning of February and the finished tortoise was dropped off at Durrell on 24^th April. Members worked on her every week during their weekly art and craft sessions.

You can see Iris the Tortoise upstairs at Voisins in Womenswear!

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WORK?

I am a Bristol based illustrator and artist originally from Rochdale in the north west. In my day job I am the senior art director at an advertising and marketing agency and I do digital illustration, painting and sculpture in my spare time. I have been working on art trails for various cities around the UK for about 8 years.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO TAKE PART IN THE TRAIL?

I’ve worked on a lot of art trails, I really enjoyed working on a gorilla for Durrell in Jersey a couple of years ago and I thought the tortoise sculpture was a great shape as a canvas for a few designs

WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR DESIGN?

Honestly the punny name came first and I based the design around that. I wanted to make him an old biker as he’s a tortoise which I think has worked well, he looks a bit like Dennis Hopper! I liked the idea of him being the opposite of the usual biker clichés around speed and celebrate slowness so I had fun coming up with his tattoos to reflect this. Shell’s Angel is the 37th sculpture I have designed and painted, that’s what the 37 tattoo on his neck is in reference to.

WHAT MEDIUMS WERE USED WHEN DECORATING YOUR TORTOISE?

The design was completed mostly with acrylic paint, I use some system 3 artists paints but also a lot of mixed test pots because you can get specific colours like his green skin mixed for you. I also use posca and molotow paint pens for the detail like his tattoos.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO COMPLETE YOUR TORTOISE?

He took a week or two to finish, just painting in the evenings after work.

ANY FURTHER COMMENTS?

They were a lot bigger than I was expecting, we had to enlist the help of our neighbours to lift him over our wall as he was too wide to get in the garden. My youngest son George helped out with drawing some of his tattoos. See if you can spot the paisley tortoises in his bandana.

Visit Shells Angel from Saturday 1st July at Bel Royal along the avenue!