Description
This penguin design is inspired by bold, eye-catching lines to create a wiggly, abstract finish. Inspired by Keith Haring, the artist wanted to create a Pop Art penguin with a bold personality within simplicity and minimalism.
Audio read by: Kate Justice from BBC Hereford and Worcester
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Artist
Bex Whitling
Creating art in any medium has always been Bex’s main form of self-expression. She enjoys developing designs that are bold, abstract and full of personality. Each piece is spontaneous and fuelled by movement, energy and the reaction her mind has in response to the lines. Taking inspiration from her two favourite artists, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Bex is keen to produce eye-catching, fun and chaotic pieces that could appeal to everyone, anywhere. Her work is filled with different elements that link to each other in unexpected ways so that the design changes every time it is viewed.
MoreLocation
38. Diglis Hotel / King’s Boat House
The Diglis Hotel overlooking the Severn at Worcester is famous as a popular watering hole on sunny days, but have you ever thought about its history?
The current building is first listed on a map dating 1764, but the history of the site can be traced back to the medieval period.
The land is first mentioned in the reign of Richard III in 1483, when the crown granted a meadow here to Friar Thomas Jonys. The meadow was called Digley, foreshadowing the modern term ‘Diglis’.
There appears to have been a house on the site by the mid-17th Century belonging to William Berkley, but this was destroyed in 1643 during the English Civil War.
More about this location
38. Diglis Hotel / King’s Boat House
In the early part of the 19th century it was a ‘seminary for ladies’ (a place of private education for women). By 1830 it had become a private house.
By 1850 Sir Edward Leader-William had moved in. Sir Edward was a notable civil engineer and had been responsible for overseeing the construction of Diglis locks and weir, which for the first time stopped the river’s tide at Worcester.
One of his sons, also named Edward, would also become a civil engineer and is chiefly remembered for his work designing the Manchester ship canal.
Another of his sons, Benjamin Williams-Leader (who had reversed the order of his family’s double barrel surname for himself) became a famed landscape artist in his own right.
The building became a licensed ale house in 1898. The site has passed through the hands of over 20 licensees since then.
This location fact has been provided by Joe Tierney of Faithful History. To learn more stories of the ancient city of Worcester, spanning thousands of years of history in ‘The Faithful City’, visit https://www.facebook.com/faithfulhistoryworcester
Take home your own feathered friend
In October 2024 all 40 large penguins and one chick will be auctioned to raise funds for the care provided by St Richard’s Hospice.
In 2021, 31 stunning elephant sculptures raised a mammoth £368,800 to support the care provided by St Richard’s Hospice across Worcestershire.
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