Puck's centre stage at Bell Court

THE artist who created the main sculpture in Stratford-upon-Avon’s new £30million Bell Court development believes her Shakespeare-inspired work will be right at home in its new surroundings.

Louisa Forbes, who is based in the Cotswolds, created the bronze sculpture of Puck, which has taken pride of place in an area of Bell Court influenced by A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Her design was chosen from those submitted by more than 40 artists.

“For me, this was the perfect backdrop for Puck, as it resembles the wood where the sprite got up to most of his mischief, in particular where he first accidentally used the love potion on Lysander,” Louisa said.

“You can imagine, from how he’s sat, that Puck is gesturing towards the new Everyman Cinema saying ‘tadaa’ whilst peeking out at people in the central courtyard trying to entice them towards him.

“It took three to four months to create the clay model of Puck and then it went to the foundry to be cast, which took some time. I’m really pleased that they chose my sculpture and I hope people enjoy it, I’m very happy with how it has turned out.

“It was quite a nerve-racking moment when it was being hoisted into place, but what I really liked was that as soon as it was up all the builders were posing with it and taking selfies.

“The Sokoke scops owl sculptures that are installed in the green wall, I had originally been commissioned to make by a charity called Birdlife International. The developers of Bell Court saw pictures of them on my website and decided they wanted some of those too.

“It’s been a great project to work on and I think the sculptures feel right at home in that area of Bell Court.”