'Sid's Big Paint' montage goes on display at Kennaway House

This fantastic montage, made up of 32 tiles all created by separate artists, has gone on display at Kennaway House as part of the Sidmouth Society of Artists' Festival of Art.

The community art project, named Sid's Big Paint, started just before the Covid pandemic began.

The original photo was taken by Sidmouth Herald photographer Terry Ife. It was divided up into the 32 tiles, with each artist encouraged to reproduce their section of the photo in their own style, and to add extra details.

It will be on display at the exhibition until Wednesday, July 14, and will then be installed at the Beacon Medical Centre.

Who painted the tiles?

Rebecca Lockyear from the Society of Artists said:

"Little did we know how strange it would feel looking back on this beautiful day with people mixing freely.

"We embarked on this community project at the end of February 2020 and it was completed during lockdown.

"Contributors were Sidmouth College, Sidmouth Society of Artists, The town council and local businesses.

"Each of the 32 individual tiles was worked on separately at home. The contributors were encouraged to complete their tile in their own style and given free rein to add imaginative additions. Hence a whale's fin tail appearing on Sidmouth beach along with the Red Arrows, a koala, a mouse and many more fascinating details."

Visitors to the exhibition are invited to try and spot all the extra images, and record them on a 'challenge sheet' available at Kennaway House. They can also order a canvas print of the picture there.

People love looking for the 'secret images' in the picture

Rebecca was at Kennaway House on Friday, July 2, and said the picture had been very well received.

She said: "We experienced a steady flow of visitors at the exhibition today and everyone loved Sid's Big Paint.

"The piece is so detailed that it actually takes a few minutes to absorb and find the hidden secret images embedded within it. Lots of people had a go at the challenge.

"People clearly liked and could identify with the image of a fantastic summer day out in Sidmouth. A lot of them were holidaymakers who visit regularly.

"They appreciated the fact that the piece, although started before lockdown, had to be completed alone. We had to wait a long time for restrictions to ease in order to gather up the pieces, 32 in total, from all over Sidmouth.

"As we collected the artwork we pieced the bits together in our dining room. It was exciting watching the image emerge and trying to imagine what it would look like when all the pieces were together.

"It was a project that 32 people engaged in and could look forward to seeing their part of the giant jigsaw unifying the piece. It brought happiness to a lot of people and the nice thing is it can continue to do so when it is installed at 'The Beacon Medical Centre' at the end of our Festival of Art."