Creature Comforts

Final curtain call at Dovecot Studios

The curtains closed last weekend on Scotland's largest outdoor public art event, Jungle City. What a summer it has been - after months of preparation, one hundred and thirty national and international artists, designers and celebrities took to their paints on one hundred and thirty crocodiles, orangutans, hornbills, tigers and elephants to produce magical creations that travelled from all corners of the United Kingdom to the majestic and tropical surroundings of the Royal Botanic Gardens (In The Wild: Jungle City, August 2011) and then onto the lively and historic streets of Edinburgh city (Safari Streets, September 2011). 

I am honoured to have been involved with Elephant Family's mission to raise £1million for the conservation and protection of Asian elephants and endangered species, with my own tiger design Tribal Tigris. The auction closed on Sunday evening and for one last time all the animals gathered at the beautiful venue of Dovecot Studios, home to the world's leading contemporary tapestry centre, surrounded by colourful threads and looms, and took their final curtain call to say goodbye to Edinburgh.

I have the pleasure of officially announcing Tribal Tigris raised £3900.00 for Elephant Family and while I do not have any details yet about it's new home, I am thrilled that is was so well received by the public in its Grassmarket location in the Old Town of the city. As Tribal Tigris and the rest of the jungle animals head to private and public collections, galleries and institutions, the money raised by this year's Jungle City project will be directed to the real homes of these endangered species: jungles are the most vital habitats on the planet and global awareness is paramount in order for these species to survive in the comfort of their natural surroundings. This is therefore only the beginning of a cause that must never have an end, a concern that we must always support and communicate to future generations. 

I have had a wonderful time meeting all the contributing artists and working on such an exciting and creative project - you can now chart my Jungle City experience from artist studio to the wild streets of Edinburgh here. Thank you to everyone for all your support - visit Elephant Family for more details about this year's fundraising events and dedicated conservation work around the world.
Images courtesy of Murray Horne

Safari Streets

Jungle City is in full swing in Edinburgh and after the hugely successful exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens (In The Wild: Jungle City, August 2011), the animals have been unleashed onto the streets of the city for the month of September before all one hundred and thirty crocodiles, orangutans, hornbills, tigers and elephants are auctioned by Sotheby's Scotland on 29th September at The Great Jungle City Gathering gala held at The National Museum of Scotland. 

Tribal Tigris has been standing proudly on the popular cobbled promenade of Grassmarket in the historic Old Town of Edinburgh - here are a few photos of my tiger, which has been generously sponsored by BT, in situ in this area of the city known for its independent retailers and eclectic watering holes. 

Keeping Tribal Tigris company is the World Wildlife Fund's Barcode Tiger which has been created in partnership with the People's Postcode Lottery. The playful yet powerful design of barcode stripes reflects the conflicts tigers face between the natural and commercial world, and highlights the tragic reality of illegal trading of tigers and other endangered animals. I'm honoured that my tiger has been installed next to the WWF UK's contribution to this year's Jungle City event - my own inspiration for Tribal Tigris explores the immortalisation of a tiger into logos and mascots within the commercial world, when in reality the species is being driven to extinction - both tigers complement one another in both style and statement and add a dash of the exotic to their historic surroundings of Grassmarket. 

If you are interested in bidding for Tribal Tigris you can register your interest online here at the official Elephant Family eBay page - bids for all the unique and life size animal creations will open on 22nd September at 10am and will close on 2nd October at 5pm. Elephant Family are aiming to raise £1million to support their own charity work for Asian elephants as well as supporting the work of six UK conservation charities - Care for the Wild, Orangutan Foundation, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, Sumatran Orangutan Society, TRAFFIC and WWF Scotland.

Follow @JMVELARDI for more updates to the run up to the Jungle City auction - discover your wild side and get involved! 

Images courtesy of Murray Horne

In The Wild: Jungle City

Last week Jungle City was officially unleashed onto Scotland at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. With the incredible success of last year’s Elephant Parade in London, the animal conservation organisation Elephant Family will be calling Edinburgh home for the next two months in what will be Scotland’s largest public art event. Over one hundred and thirty crocodiles, orangutans, hornbills, tigers and elephants have been transformed into fantastical creations by artists, designers and celebrities from Scotland, England and around the world, all with the hope of raising £1 million for these endangered species. I was honoured to have been invited to design a tiger earlier in the year and it’s great to know that within its opening hours last week Jungle City was already gaining the publicity it so deserves, with a segment on BBC Scotland News.

Having had the pleasure of meeting a handful of artists and designers at the London studios while I was creating my very own tiger, Tribal Tigris, it is certainly a sight to see all the animals in one place, at the tropical surroundings of the Royal Botanic Gardens and a big thank you to the talented @CazHaigh who managed to make the journey Northwards to view all the animals - including her own orangutan, Hati - to take brilliant documentation of the event. Please visit Caz Haigh's website for more images from the Royal Botanic Gardens and Harvey Nichols as well as viewing her amazing illustrative works and projects!

Tigers are ironically immortalised into symbols of identity – such as logos and mascots – when in reality they are being driven to extinction. Tribal Tigris explores the importance of identity through native markings across the sculpture painted by hand that include arrow designs and conceptual targets referring to its Persian derivative ‘tigris’. Tribal Tigris is painted with event-sponsor Farrow & Ball 'Babouche' and 'Pitch Black' eco friendly paint.

Jungle City takes shelter in the temperamental summer at the Royal Botanic Gardens until 4th September before the herd escape onto the streets, institutions and public spaces from 6th September. Visit the official website for Jungle City for a schedule of events and details of the art auction taking place in Edinburgh with Sotheby's and further information about Elephant Family’s important conservation work around the world.

Don't forget to get in touch @JMVELARDI if you find yourself in Edinburgh and look out for Tribal Tigris in the urban jungle that will Edinburgh this summer!

Jungle City Update

After last year's hugely successful Elephant Parade in London, Elephant Family are now fervently counting down to this summer's exciting programme in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Jungle City event will celebrate creative talent in Scotland, England and the rest of the world, bringing artists, designers and celebrities - Emma Bridgewater, Professor Gordon Murray, Marc Quinn and Harvey Nichols to name a few - together to produce one hundred and thirty life size sculptures of some of the planet's most endangered species.

Below are a few photos from the Jungle City London artist studio where elephants, tigers, orangutans, crocodiles and hornbills are being transformed into wild designs of the imagination with the hope of raising £1 million for their survival around the world. For those of you planning to be in Edinburgh this summer, Jungle City will launch on 16th August at the Royal Botanic Gardens to coincide with the city's world famous Fringe Festival, followed by a series of interventions across Edinburgh's streets, institutions and public spaces from 6th September that will include my very own design Tribal Tigris (Urban Jungle, May 2011).

Visit the official website for Elephant Family here to learn more about their international effort of protecting endangered elephants and conserving their natural habitats across Asia. View one of the organisation's awareness videos below that describes the threats on forests that are being drastically minimised by human activity through force and conflict. If this barbaric behaviour continues the world's Asian Elephant population will frighteningly disappear altogether within thirty years.

Follow this project and many more @JMVELARDI throughout the summer!

Royal Roundup Weekend

Royal Box, Epsom Derby 1991

It can only mean one thing when the Saturday papers are replaced with the Racing Post - and wallets - at the breakfast table in early June - it's the Epsom Derby. This iconic sporting event held at Epsom Downs epitomises the beginning of the summer season in both sporting and social calendars for all classes and will be made more prestigious should, as the British Press fervently reports, Her Majesty The Queen win her first Derby winner in her reign with her runner, Carlton House. All eyes will be on the Queen's horse at today's big race at 16:00 - carrying the Royal silks of purple, gold and scarlet - a win for the Royal Stud will be the fairytale ending for Crown and Country in The Sport of Kings that is said to be the Queen's passion in life. Watch The Derby live on the BBC here.

Carlton House

This week also saw Camilla, Duchess of Rothesay (titled when in Scotland) paying a visit to the artist studios for the Elephant Family, also supported by the Prince of Wales, in Edinburgh. The Duchess viewed several animals by local artists who are participating in this year's Jungle City event which I have contributed to with my own design Tribal Tigris - Urban Jungle, May 2011 - while touring Dovecot Studios on Wednesday. Visit the official Jungle City website for updates on events and sponsors in Edinburgh this summer.

"This remarkable initiative aims to help alleviate the crisis facing so many species on our planet today... Your generous support of Elephant Family and Jungle City in Edinburgh will quite simply make all the difference so I can only urge you to support this innovative campaign in any way you can."

HRH The Prince of Wales

Urban Jungle

With the summer fast approaching, Scotland's biggest ever outdoor art exhibition is in motion. As I reported last month, I am very excited to be involved with the animal conservation organisation Elephant Family - my charity art tiger will be involved in this year's Jungle City exhibition which will be held at various venues across Edinburgh over the summer. 150 life size sculptures of crocodiles, elephants, hornbills, orangutans and tigers will be customised by artists and designers with the aim of raising awareness and support for these endangered species.

It's been a pleasure meeting a handful of the participating artists while I've been working on my design, Tribal Tigris, in the London studio. Check out the promotional video below which features some of the artists that include Martin Aveling, Rebecca Campbell, Nilesh Mistry and Ben Sanderson working on their animals.

My design was inspired by native drawings and markings that have commonly been understood to be signs of identity within tribes throughout history. Identity plays an important role in society today and the Tiger as a symbol is famously depicted in various forms such as logos and mascots: an irony when the importance of immortalizing the species through image is in reality being driven to extinction.

Tribal Tigris is composed of various markings painted by hand across the body of the tiger – including arrows which refer to its Persian derivative ‘tigris’ – to form a bold pattern of lines and accents that create an abstract narrative of exotic fantasy met with the harsh reality of survival.

With each artist sourcing inspiration from their own unique practice, Jungle City will guarantee an eclectic mix of public interventions from Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens to the Royal Mile during the Fringe Festival and throughout this summer in the run-up to a live auction in the autumn. Click here for more details about Elephant Family's work around the world or visit the official website for Jungle City where scheduled events and information will be posted for visitors and sponsors.

Follow this project and many more @JMVELARDI for the best in art, culture and design!

What's New Pussycat?

A new month and a new project: this April I will be working on a charity art tiger for animal conservation organisation Elephant Family. I was honoured to be invited to design a sculpture for this year's public art event which will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland. With the enormous success of last year's installation of hundreds of elephants around London, this year Elephant Family are focusing on other endangered species, such as the crocodile and hornbill, that share their habitats with the Asian elephant.

Follow my progress on this exciting project with my design, Tribal Tigris over the coming weeks @JMVELARDI and click here to learn more about the important conservation work Elephant Family take on around the world.