Highland coos Whi-ski and avieMoo mooooo-ve in
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Two udderly charming new arrivals have just moo-ved into pastures new in the strath.
Heilan coos Whi-ski is now in residence in The Square in Grantown while avieMoo has taken up home in Aviemore by the railway station.
The pair are amongst 22 brightly sculptures which have just gone on display across the region as part of a Highland Hospice initiative. There are a total of 10 Heilan coos located through-out Inverness and 12 others in each town where the charity has a shop.
Hospice fundraiser Jenna Hayden said: “We are so excited to launch our Great Heilan Coo Art Trail which sees 22 Highland coo sculptures, all individually painted by local artists, roam across the Highlands until August 21.”
She said each coo has been kindly sponsored by a local business, and artists have given up their time and materials free of charge for the art project.
“Each coo will be auctioned off at the end of the trail in September to raise vital funds for Highland Hospice,” she explained. “We have been overwhelmed by the quality of the artwork on our coos, and cannot wait for the public to find them on an udderly brilliant adventure.”
The hospice joined forces with local wildlife sculptor Scott Gleed to create these latest joyful coos.
Visitors and residents are being encouraged to take part in a scavenger hunt with mini-coos hidden inside each of the 14 hospice shops and two cafés.
Whi-ski was designed by artist Jenna Hayden and sponsored by Colin Armstrong Architects.
Karen Martin, chair of Grantown Business Association, said: “It’s fantastic that Grantown is part of the trail this summer and Whi-ski is a brilliant addition to the Square.
“His colourful ski-ing attire is very appropriate for the Cairngorms. We are looking forward to seeing Whi-ski in lots of photos of residents and visitors throughout the summer.
“Grantown is proud to be home to one of the hospice’s shops and The Great Heilan Coo Trail is another great way to support the invaluable work that the charity does across the region.”
avieMoo has been created by Natalie Coll and is sponsored by Cairngorm Mountain and showcases on one side the local rugged mountains and sandy beaches and on the other, a variety of flowers inspired by the hospice’s gardens
In another local link, Speyside Distillery-based artist Joanna McDonough has created ‘Highland Harvey’ who has just been installed on Castle Street in Dornoch and is sponsored by The Torridon.
She said: “They posted an advert asking for artists interested in painting a Heilan coo so I thought I would give it a go.
“At the time I was working on large floral paintings so using the computer I super-imposed one of the paintings onto the outline of a cow shape they had supplied, and was selected.
“He took around six or seven days to complete.”
“It was full size and delivered to the distillery by Kingussie as we could not fit it into the house. I was really delighted to be chosen.”
• For more information visit the Highland Hospice website.
