CREATING A BUZZ: artist sees boris in a whole new light
A CHELSEA artist has turned her quirky imagination to celebrity portraits and has immortalised Uxbridge MP Boris Johnson as a bumblebee.
Celebrity Beasts is a series of portraits by painter Caroline Sykes and includes unique images of rockstars, actors, models and royalty. The works will be going to auction in Soho between Tuesday (November 22) and Thursday (November 24) where you can take home your own one-ofa-kind celebrity portrait.
Caroline, who is a member of the Chelsea Arts Club, said: “I decided on Boris Johnson – a clever, thoughtful, amusing man, who I particularly admire and who somehow looks completely right as a bumblebee.
“This excited me and led me onto the path of painting people as creatures.
“Of course, it had to be well known people, so that my audience could empathise with my choices.”
She has painted 13 celebrities including Dame Helen Mirren as a cat, Prince Harry as an orangutan, and Nigella Lawson as a horse.
The auction is being held at The Salon above L’Escargot Restaurant in Greek Street and 20% of the sale will go to charities Seeing is Believing and Invictus Games Foundation.
Caroline started the project after she became concerned with the decline of bee populations.
She added: “This project has been great fun and has led to plenty of amusing discussions with friends and associates.
“In all cases, I wanted to flatter my subject and I very much hope the chosen celebrities will like the creations I have produced.”