I was lucky enough to be a part of the Pop-up Penguins Art Trail in Christchurch that ran from November 2020 to February 2021 throughout the city. This was a trail of 120 penguins that were scattered in a treasure hunt style, painted by 46 artists and the rest were mini penguins (but super amazing) painted by 65 different schools.
My penguin, 'Little Blue' got to start his life while he was being painted in our dining room/kitchen in our overpacked multi-generation Covid household and became a part of our family. He was taller than me, and I got many knocks on the head from his beak while I was busy painting him. By far, one of the most fun and challenging art projects I have undertaken so far, but SO rewarding. He ended up being sold at auction and raised around $25,000 for the Cholmondeley Children’s Centre.
He took a while to paint using acrylics, and a wet paint drip technique on the blue parts of the painting to create a watery wet feel. He also has a slightly feathered textured chest, which was only a detail you can see on closer inspection, but took many days to create.
During the trail, he lived in Lyttelton in Albion Square (sponsored by Structex, Lyttelton Engineering and Lyttelton Port Company). Which was pretty cool for me as I was working in Lyttelton a bit at the time and got to visit him occasionally before he went to his new home.
