Guitarist’s painted rhino wows the Duke
THE DUKE of Cambridge has praised Ronnie Wood’s skills with a brush after he joined other artists in decorating rhino sculptures in aid of conservation.
William told The Rolling Stones guitarist “that’s amazing, I love it” when shown a picture of the musician’s contribution to the Tusk Rhino Trail, a London wide art installation celebrating the endangered animal.
In Kensington Palace’s private gardens, some of the 21 rhinos featured around the capital were on display – including one decorated by Axel Scheffler, illustrator of the children’s book
The Gruffalo, who stood by his piece along with Julia Donaldson, author of the popular story.
The second-in-line to the throne – now a father of three – confessed to the pair that their book was a “big hit in our house”.
Wood said the duke, said to be a bass guitar player, said to him: “’I knew you did music, I didn’t know you could turn your hand to this’, and I said ‘no I’m blessed’.”
His decorated rhino – located in London’s Carnaby Street – features the African savanna and incorporates the flags of the countries where the rhino roams. There are 29,000 black and white rhinos in the wild, but last year three animals a day were killed by poachers. The musician is the longest serving patron of wildlife conservation charity Tusk, which has organised the Tusk Rhino Trail.
The guitarist added: “Ever since I used to go on safari in Africa, I was very moved to protect the elephant and the rhino.”