My search for Gromits around Bristol - Part 3

I've already done a couple of posts about my progress with visiting all of the Gromit statues which have been placed around Bristol and the surrounding areas over the summer of 2013.

Headed by Aardman Animations, for ten weeks between 1st July and 8th September, eighty statues of Gromit have been placed in a type of public art display under the title, 'Gromit Unleashed'. These are mainly in the greater Bristol area, but some are further afield. Each statue has been designed or decorated by a different individual and each sponsored by a different corporate entity. After the end of the ten week period they'll then be auctioned off to raise funds for Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children's Hospital charity.

 

My blog posts here and here are about the first and next twenty statues we visited, this post takes me up to sixty.

These first few Gromits follow on from the previous post and were visited on the same day. We found 'Butterfly' by Philip Treacy OBE and sponsored by Hayes Parsons at the Bristol Old Vic. He was tucked in a bit of a dark corner, so difficult to get a good photo of.

'The King' by Stephen McKay and sponsored by Smith & Williamson was at the bottom of King Street. Bizarrely, this was the second Elvis themed Gromit we'd seen. This time complete with white jumpsuit.

 

 

'Carosello' by Giuliano Carapia was outside the Spyglass, who had also sponsored him. He was one of the two Gromits that had been vandalised before the trail even opened, and had only returned the day before. He had a six foot get well card next to him, which had been filled with signatures.

Okay, my photo makes him look a bit wide-eyed and deranged, but I was trying to get close enough so you could see all the Beano characters on him! This is 'Gnashional Gromit' by The Beano, and was on the first floor of the Bristol Marriott Hotel City Centre, who had also sponsored him. This was our last Gromit of the day on the way back to the car.

Another day, another set of Gromits, we started in Temple Quay and 'A Grand Day Out' by Andy O'Rourke, sponsored by Creative Common and placed in the Enterprise Zone. I have to admit that I had no idea this place even existed, so I learned something from the day's Gromiting!

Another one that was difficult to photographed, tucked away in Bristol Temple Meads station by the ticket barriers. This is 'May Contain Nuts (& Bolts)' by Natalie Guy and sponsored by Network Rail. He is literally covered in thousands of tiny nuts, a really clever effect. One of my clients is considering bidding for this in the auction, so hopefully I'll be seeing plenty more of him.

'Isambark Kingdog Brunel' by Tim Miness and sponsored by Element 78 Solutions Ltd, was outside Bristol Temple Meads. As Brunel created both Temple Meads station and the Clifton Suspension Bridge, he seemed a good choice of an individual to be personified as a Gromit.

'Blazing Saddles' by Carys Ink was outside, and sponsored by, DoubleTree by Hilton Bristol City Centre. I love the tiny little hat on this one, makes him just a little bit different.

'Bunty' by Paula Bowles was outside St Mary Redcliffe and was sponsored by Unum. I loved this one with his multicoloured houses, fields and bunting.

'Watch Out Gromit!' by Gerald Scarfe OBE and sponsored by Stage Electrics was on the ground floor of the M Shed. This was another I struggled to photograph, with the bright light making it difficult to photograph a black dog, and that was without the series of kids jumping on him!

'National Treasure' by The Royal Mint and sponsored by CrossCountry was upstairs in the M Shed. He's the only Gromit so far which has had a proper controlled queueing system. He was covered in hundreds of one penny pieces, a really well thought out design.

'NewFoundLand' by One Red Shoe and sponsored by Yankee Candle was on The Matthew. I'd never been on The Matthew before, and with so many people wanting to see Gromit and blocking the gangplank, I thought I might never leave!

'Being Gromit Malkovich' by Thomas Dowdeswell was sponsored by Brunel's SS Great Britain and was just beside the ship.

'Stat's the way to do it, Lad!' by Gavin Strange was sponsored by, and placed just outside Aardman Animations building. He was covered in facts about Aardman and made for a good read.

'Gromberry' by Simon Tozer and sponsored by Itec was outside The Pumphouse. Bit of a crazy idea to decorate him like a strawberry, but it kind of worked.

'Gromit-o-Matic' by Donough O'Malley and sponsored by Crest Nicholson was on the Brunel Mile. This was quite a clever design, and almost looked like something Wallace would create.

This took a whole lot of patience, every time I picked up my camera another set of kids ran into shot and down my camera would go again. Anyway, I eventually managed to get a couple of shots of 'Astro Dog' on Millennium Square by Ingnition DG Ltd, who had also sponsored him.

'Fish Tales' by Jeremy Wade was nearby, inside the Bristol Aquarium, who had also sponsored him. He was another Gromit who'd been decorated to fit the location he'd be placed in.

'Steam Dog' by Dan Shearn at Red Central and sponsored by Clarke Willmott LLP was inside At-Bristol. This was a clever design, I particularly liked his tail being used as a chimney!

Our last Gromit of the day (and number sixty!) was 'What a Wind Up!' by Trevor Baylis OBE, sponsored by Haseltine Lake LLP and placed on Redcliff Street. I liked the attention to detail that meant that Gromit even seemed to be wearing Trevor Baylis's moustache!

I have to admit the last twenty are going to be a struggle. I have less than a month left and still haven't managed to find an excuse to get to London. I'll do a final post with however many I managed to get to.

If you're in Bristol, or want to visit to track down some Gromits yourself, there's an app for Apple and Android phones, that you can use to tick them off as you see them. It costs 69p, but most of that goes to the charity. The Gromit Unleashed website is also worth a look. You can download maps there, or pick them up from the passport stops and shops (where you can also get your Gromit Unleashed passport stamped).

If you're doing the Gromit Unleased trail too, I'd love to hear how you're getting on.