Celebrating an unforgettable journey

Vicky Scott’s creation for this year’s Elephant Parade is particularly unusual as the design of her elephant tells the story of the parade itself. The design, which features a looping chain of white elephants, includes many details from the places and cities that the elephants will visit, from the London Eye to the Angel of the North.

Vicky was one of the first artists to be engaged for the current parade once intu and Elephant Parade had announced their ambitious plans to embark on a first-ever national tour, visiting 14 locations and connecting with 30 million people.

Vicky says she hopes that people will be able to spot local landmarks, as the elephant itself travels around the country visiting shopping centres as part of the national tour presented by intu.

The design of this elephant draws on her work elsewhere. She says: “My style is graphic, colourful, nostalgic and quirky.” Many of her pieces are based on fairy-tale or story-book characters, or her own creations who look as though they have stepped out of a vintage illustration, and she admits: “I manage to surreptitiously sneak an animal or two into most of the artwork I do.”

This influence can certainly be seen in this elephant - called ‘An Unforgettable Journey.” The stark white elephants are parading across a bold blue and orange landscape, like a fantastical dreamscape.

But her work draws on wider subject matter. She says: “I find inspiration almost anywhere from the natural world and my urban surroundings in London, to stylish Art Deco architecture, psychedelic posters of the 60’s and the wallpapers of William Morris.”

When she is not painting elephants, Vicky’s work as an illustrator takes a number of forms. She has designed greeting cards for Paperchase, album covers - for the band Stereovenus - as well as making illustrations using a variety of techniques, from paper collages, painting and computer based artwork.

But while she works with a diverse range of tools and media, none of it is perfect preparation for painting an elephant, she says. “Normally I work in 2D, rather than painting a 3D sculpture. And although I create some larger illustrations the biggest size I deal with is A1. This is still considerably smaller than a life-sized baby elephant.”

She said that while she plotted out the design on A4 sheets of paper, these designs needed to be adapted considerably when it came to putting them onto the actual body of the elephant. “The curves are tricky, particularly aspects like the ear. You have to alter the design so it works well over the convex surfaces.”

The size of the elephant can also present a challenge.  For this tour she was invited to be the artist in residence at intu’s London offices – allowing intu staff to enjoy the process of an elephant being created.

She says it took around a month to paint the elephant. “To start with I was working on it part-time, spending a few days a week at the makeshift studio. But as the deadline approached it was all hands to the deck and I did end up doing quite a few 12-hour days. I wanted to get it right, so it was worth it.”

She says she hasn’t had the chance yet to see her elephant on the tour. However, she was there to wave it off on the first leg of its journey from Kings Cross station. “It was great to see so many of the elephants together. I’ve been sent pictures of them as they make their way round the country, from the various intu shopping centres. It’s been great to keep up with where they are - and interesting to see the different locations she has ended up in.”

She adds that she’s really pleased that this year’s Parade has gone nationwide. “It certainly helps raise awareness of the Asian Elephant Foundation and the great work it does, to a wider audience and it has been great to paint an elephant that tells the story of this tour.”

To find more information about Vicky Scott’s work visit her website: www.vickysworld.co.uk