A peek at our ram
READY FOR SCULPTURE SPECTACLE,
THE Derby Telegraph’s ram is now complete and under wraps until the city’s Ram Trail trail officially gets under way.
Artist Caroline Coates has created a Peak District-inspired ram to celebrate what makes the county so special. Inspired by Caroline’s great uncle, Tom Tomlinson, who help to set up the Peak District National Park, our ram’s green coat is a homage to the rolling green hills which make the Peak District such a wonderful place to visit.
Her Uncle Tom was also the first warden of the Peak District Park in 1954 and continued to escort schools around the Park even after his retirement.
Caroline, who works in community art but has a background in illustration, said: “The idea behind it is you look at it and go ‘oh nice pretty field’ but then if you look closer you find little animals and characters hidden within that. My favourite thing is hiding little things for people to find.
“My experience of Derby is always connected with wider Derbyshire. I’ve always been drawn to the hills of the Peak District and the curves of the ram just looked like the hills of the Peak District to me.”
Her biggest challenge painting this giant sculpture was transferring her 2D design into a 3D reality.
“I underestimated the size of this ram’s bottom. Because the designs we submitted were looking at the sides and front and not the back, so I had an idea how it would wrap round but I’ve had to add a few more characters to fill in the space on the bottom.”
The ram will be revealed on May 27 when the trail opens across Derby city.