All you need is Ed, for tribute to Jean
FORMER Visiter reporter and celebrated mosaic artist Ed Chapman has sold Beatles artwork to Sir Paul McCartney, and now he wants to make a mosaic in tribute to Jean Alexander.
Ed commissioned 450 All You Need Is Loverpool blueprints, all of which feature Beatles songs as Liverpool city centre road names.
Sir Paul purchased No 1 of the edition.
Ed has made a name for himself through his one-off artworks and his work has been sold and displayed around the world. He has previously made mosaics in hundreds of fragments of ceramic tile, broken vinyl records and torn paper.
Some of his more unusual materials also include used coins, chewing gum, glass, mobile phones and sugar cubes.
Ed recently created a Clint Eastwood mosaic, to celebrate the actor’s 85th birthday. The work was made entirely of bullets and is valued at £10,000.
His Going Underground commissioned for The Jam is owned by Paul Weller and other members of the group. He has also made a mosaic of the Queen.
And now he wants to create a work in memory of Jean.
The Southport-based actress, who was known to millions as Coronation Street’s Hilda Ogden died on Friday, October 15, just three days after her 90th birthday.
The star won legions of fans playing characters including Hilda on Corrie from 1964 until 1987, and Auntie Wainwright in Last of the Summer Wine from 1988 to 2010.
Jean, who loved living in Southport, endeared herself to the people in the town when she fought a successful campaign for a temporary library to be set up when The Atkinson closed in 2010 for its three-and-a-half year renovation.
Last week, former Coronation Street actor Andrew Lancel called for a statue of Jean to be erected in the town.
Andrew, who played Frank Foster in the soap from 20102012, said it would be the perfect way to remember her.
However, Ed wants the actress to be commemorated in a more alternative way.
He says he was saddened to hear of Jean’s death.
He said: “On BBC Radio 4’s Last Word there was talk of a statue or plaque to commemorate Jean’s Southport years. I wonder if a stone or ceramic tile mosaic would be a nice alternative.
“It would be great to see the mosaic outside in the town centre – the mosaics are weatherproof – and it would certainly cost a lot less than a statue.”
What do you think of the idea for a Jean Alexander mosaic? And have you any thoughts as to how the money to pay for it could be raised? Email kate. lally@trinitymirror.com
Ringo art valued: p14