A TALENTED Malvern artist has created a 'swirly whirly' zebra to help save the species, and now her work will form part of a mass sculpture trail in Southampton.

Rachel Blackwell has swapped her easel and canvas for zebra sculptures, to join the mass art extravaganza known as, ‘Marwell’s Zany Zebras’.

Last year Rachel submitted a zebra design, which was selected from hundreds of others to be brought to life for a giant art trail.

A spokesman said: "Her finished work of art will be on show in Southampton, Hampshire, for ten weeks this summer, when the city becomes home to a herd of colourful zebra sculptures. In addition to this a trail of replica miniature Marwell’s Zany Zebras will be hidden within Marwell Zoo itself.

"The public art event promises to create an unforgettable trail for families to enjoy whilst raising much needed funds for critically endangered animals. The Grevy’s zebra is the fastest declining land mammal in Kenya and their survival is vital to the whole ecosystem. It is hoped the trail raises awareness about the plight of Grevy’s zebra and other endangered animals."

Rachel chose to create a cheerful illustration of an imaginary British summer landscape for the zebra, "in a swirling design that is whimsically reminiscent of a zebra’s stripes".

The sculpture has been named ‘Swirly Whirly’ and its quirky design features mushroom houses, button flowers, bumble bees and fairies floating away on dandelion clock seeds.

Rachel said: “I was delighted to be chosen to paint a zebra for this interesting and exciting project. I picked up the blank zebra from Marwell zoo intending to paint it in my home studio; however, as the almost life-size zebra sculpture wouldn’t fit in the room, I had to paint it in my kitchen. It was quite surreal having a huge zebra in my kitchen during the painting part of the project.

"It took around eleven days to paint, which works out at about 60 to 70 hours from start to finish. As part of the project was to paint a miniature zebra, it was an interesting challenge switching from painting on a large scale to painting on such a tiny scale immediately afterwards. During the project I made a time-lapse video of the painting process, giving an interesting insight into how my paintings are made.”

Rachel graduated from Worcester University with a degree in Fine Art Practice in 2011. Since then she has exhibited her work nationally at galleries in London, Birmingham, Exeter, Malvern and Worcester. She has undertaken a variety of commissions for murals and large scale paintings including an Owl sculpture for The Big Hoot 2015 and a heart sculpture for a community project in Sheffield. Rachel recently painted a large scale mural in the Children’s section of Malvern Library.

Rachel said: “I have always been interested in the welfare of animals, having previously worked as an animal health and welfare officer for Worcestershire County Council. When I read about the plight of the endangered Grevy’s Zebra I felt that by participating in this project I could help in an artistic way, to raise awareness and funds for these beautiful creatures.”

Kirstie Mathieson, Project Manager for Marwell’s Zany Zebras said: “The public art extravaganza brings together the whole community to create a very special summer that showcases not only the city of Southampton but also the talents of artists from further afield, all whilst raising vital funds for the Grevy’s zebra and other endangered species.”

For more information visit the website http://zanyzebras.org.uk