One of the difficulties with not working or living in London at the moment is that I'm unable to do or see much in London unless I've got some free time on the weekend. Hence why this post is delayed, but it's better late than never as I just finished seeing all of the 'Shaun the Sheep' charity art sculptures that have been around London this spring. For those who are unaware, 'Shaun the Sheep' is an animated (stop motion) film for children by Aardman Studios, who famously brought us 'Wallace and Gromit'. 'Shaun the Sheep' is primarily geared at younger children.
Chelsea Pen-Shaun-er - The Chelsea Pensioner
After the success of the 'Gromit Unleashed' art charity sculpture trail two years ago in Bristol ('Gromit Unleashed' in Bristol, Part 1 and 'Gromit Unleashed' in Bristol, Part 2), which raised money for charities such as Bristol Children's Hospital, I had heard rumours that same year that they may be bringing 'Shaun the Sheep' to the streets in a couple of years, although this was never confirmed when I asked about it on Twitter. The 'Gromit Unleashed' art sculpture trails were possibly inspired by Wow! Gorillas in Bristol, which took the city by storm two years prior, and based on Bristol's positive response to this, a void needed to be filled.
Lenny - Vivi Cuevas
Now, I mentioned the rumours about the 'Shaun the Sheep' trail. The trail was officially announced last summer, and I was excited about the news. I loved finding the Gromits in Bristol two years ago. With his news came the news that there would be two sculpture trails this year with different sculptures in London and in Bristol.
The Guardian - Vivi Cuevas
The 'Shaun the Sheep' trail is part of the marketing campaign for the 'Shaun the Sheep' film, which was released in the cinema at about the same time as the trail. This year is also the Chinese 'Year of the Sheep'. We did see the 'Shaun the Sheep' film at the cinema when it was released.
Br-ewe-nel - Brunel University
The first trail for the 'Shaun the Sheep' (known as 'Shaun in the City', which is similar to what happens in the film when the sheep have to make a journey to the big city) takes place in London throughout the spring. The London trail was launched at the end of March and has been extended until May 31st so that more people could enjoy them. Half-term week is coming up, so more children could enjoy the trails, especially if they are traveling from other places in the UK. In the summer, a different set of 'Shaun the Sheep' sculptures will be in Bristol, and I've already booked my hotel for a mini-break in Bristol. There will be 120 unique sculptures across both cities.
Yeoman of the Baaard - Vivi Cuevas
This year, the charities being raised for are various children charities, such as the children's hospitals. In the autumn, the sculptures will be auctioned for charity.
Petal - Emily Ketteringham
An official app, which can be purchased (for a donation), can be bought for Apple or Android devices, and this is a wonderful little app. The app includes aspects of gamification where users can unlock trophies during their trek across London, and trophies are awarded for discovering and completing the various trails or visiting other locations or spinning around on the spot (with GPS turned on). The app has a map, so sheep that you are close to can be marked off. Information about each sheep sculpture and the artist or sponsor is also included in the app.
To Sheep Perchance to Dream - One Red Shoe
During the first weekend of the 'Shaun in the City' trail in London, I completed the two trails in west London and also discovered the sheep that had become 'separated' from the flock at Paddington and Canary Wharf. The trails are all named after charatcers in the 'Shaun the Sheep' animations. The two trails in west London took in locations around Buckingham Palace, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown, Trafalgar Square, Carnaby Street, and Regent Street.
Golden Fleece - Nigel Leach
We could have completed all of the trails, but I did not want us to both be too tired out, and I decided that we could come back at another time. The weekend day that the bloke and I did have free and I did plan to visit ended up being the day of the London Marathon, and the streets with the trails we needed to see were due to be closed. That brings us to last Sunday when we could both go into London in order to finish off the trail, and lucikly, none of the ones we wanted to see were taken off the street for repairs (some of the parents are not considerate or responsible and let their offspring sit on and pick at the sculptures, which does damage them). The bloke really wanted to sleep in, but I did force him to go out because I wanted to make sure that we finished all of the trails. Actually, I'd have done both of these trails in the initial launch week during my lunch break had I still been working in London. D'oh!
Rule Britannia - Steve Antony
The final two trails took us around the oldest part of London, the City. Famous landmarks around the trails included St. Paul's Cathedral, Millennium Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe, the Tate, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Leadenhall Market, and Liverpool Street.
Baa-Bushka - Rachel Shilston
The photographs in this post are some of my favourite sculptures or photographs that turned out well. This is a selection of what you can expect to find.
A Capital View - Laura Cramer
Candy Baa - Emily Golden
Another One Rides the Bus - Susan Donna Webber
Br-ewe-nel - Brunel University
The Gruffalo Shaun - Axel Scheffler
Happy & Glorious - Vivi Cuevas
Me llamo Shaun- Edgar Orlaineta
Robo-Shaun - Tim Sutcliffe
Mossy Bottom - Sylvia Bull and Woolly Jumbo - Joseph Dunmore
Monsters! - Chris Riddell
Jingtai - Simon Farrell
Lambmark Larry - Jenny Urquhart
Globetrotter - Sarah Matthews
Mittens - Simon Tofield
Out of this World - Josh & Aimee Williams
Liberty Bell - Liberty Bell; Shaun-Xiao - Stephen Taylor; Ruffles - Deborah Wilding; Hamish - Ros Franklin; Sheep Shape & Bristol Fashion - Gavin Strange; Fine & Gandy - David Gandy; Literary Lamb - PJ Crook; Pinky Plum - Roksanda Ilincic
Nelson - Benjamin Cox & Vojtech Dvorak
If you wish to visit the London trails, you do not have long now. For those that have missed it, fret not - new sculptures will be visiting Bristol this summer. For more information on the trails, artists, charities, visit http://www.shauninthecity.org.uk
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