The artists who will design balloon-dog sculptures for a town-wide trail this summer have been chosen.
The Big Dog Art Trail team whittled down 200 entries to a shortlist of 60 and then a final tally of 30.
The uniquely decorated sculptures will create the UK’s first-ever balloon dog art trail and will raise essential funds for children’s hospice charity, Julia’s House.
The final list includes artists from Swindon and nearly a third are from the wider south west. Among the Swindog artists are Judy and Morgan Guillery, a mum-and-son duo from Mouldon View.
Judy, 45, runs Judee Tree Art and has been involved in various art projects in Swindon. Her design is inspired by nature and growth and she has named it Love Grows.
She wanted her design to reflect her art journey which began with family trees, hence Judee Tree Art, and hopes her sculpture will bring happiness to children when they discover it along the trail.
Her 12-year-old son Morgan won the Adver's reader competition to have his steampunk-inspired design featuring Swindon's heritage selected to adorn one of the sculptures.
Morgan’s art already has a following on social media and he worked with his mum Judy on a mural for his primary school, St Mary’s.
Judy says: “Morgan and I are both over the moon! We’re so excited to be part of The Big Dog Art trail and so very grateful for this amazing opportunity.
"I had hoped from the beginning to be a part of it, but to get to do it with my son is more than I could have imagined, what could be more special.
"We can’t wait to work alongside the other artists and share this wonderful experience. We’re ready to put in the effort to make it really special and hopefully help Julia’s House with their amazing work."
Judy and Morgan will be painting their sculptures, side by side, in the studio space for artists in the GWR carriage works.
The super-sized Swindogs have been sponsored by local companies and the sponsors attended a design selection event where the shortlisted designs were put on display and they had to choose a favourite design for their Swindog.
The National Self Build & Renovation Centre, one of the Swindog sponsors, hosted the design selection event with representatives from headline sponsor Imagine Cruising UK, Swindon Borough Council, Swindon Advertiser, Beard, Intel, Nationwide Building Society, Bespoke Guardians Swindon Wildcats, Jazzbones Creative, Arval UK, Better Link Centre, Telenco and Persimmon Homes.
The event was attended by Julia’s House patron Annabel Karmel MBE, a sponsor who will be supporting the trail throughout the year, and Swindon artist Hannah Dosanjh, who designed the first Swindog.
The designs are being kept under wraps for now and they’ll be unveiled in the summer.
Julia's House CEO Martin Edwards said, “We would like to say congratulations to our final artists but also thank you to everyone who submitted a design.
"The designs were superb so the sponsors had some difficult decisions to make. Now we have our final 30 designs we can really envisage how amazing the Swindogs will look around Swindon.
"We’re so grateful for the support from our partners, sponsors, artists and everybody involved in bringing The Big Dog Art Trail to Swindon this summer - the event is going to make a life-changing difference to the local children and families we support.”
If your company would like to be involved in The Big Dog Art Trail, there are still a handful of Swindogs looking for sponsorship. To find out more, visit www.bigdogarttrail.co.uk/sponsors
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