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Delight as starfish trail starts to take shape

Amanda White,in Hornseaand
Eleanor Maslin,East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
News imageBBC A woman with a blonde fringe and hair tied back is wearing large clear-rimmed glasses and a green cardigan and is smiling into the camera. Next to her is a woman with long blonde hair also smiling into the camera. Behind them is a wall with a starfish sculpture which says 'Lake-Land By The Sea' in yellow lettering with a background of the seaside with seagulls, sky, sand and the sea. The actual sea can be seen behind them.BBC
Sher King, of Hornsea Collective, left, with Katy Cobb, who designed the first starfish to go up in the town

A starfish sculpture trail is starting to take shape with the first collection being placed on walls in an East Yorkshire town.

The first six of 18 large, painted starfish by local artists are being put up in Hornsea with the first one placed on the outside of Floral Hall on Tuesday evening.

Sher King, of Hornsea Collective, said the aim of the Starfish Galaxy trail was to "create something uplifting for the community, celebrate local creativity and bring more visitors into Hornsea".

King, who watched the first starfish go up, said: "It feels absolutely amazing, there's been times when we didn't think it was going to happen."

News imageA black stage with six people each standing behind large starfish sculptures. They are all individually designed and very colourful.
The first six starfish to go up on the trail and the local artists who designed them

The installations were initially delayed after the group was told each piece required its own planning approval.

The first sculpture to go up, called Lake-Land By The Sea, was designed by Katy Cobb, who was inspired by an old railway poster.

She said: "This is amazing, it goes from having the starfish at home where I'm painting it and all of a sudden it's a real-life thing that's happening.

"I kept coming back to the old, early 20th-Century posters for Hornsea. It was just perfect to do something like that."

King said the trail was a community-funded project, which received a range of donations including £5 in pocket money up to business donations of £2,500 for a starfish.

"To see the amount of people who have come to support the event has made it so special," she said.

News imageFive women are smiling into the camera and holding up white posters of starfish designs. It includes pink and yellow roses, shells on the sea and an orange flowery design.
Six more local artists have been chosen to create the next collection of starfish sculptures

Six more artists have been selected to paint other sculptures, including Jayde Marr.

She said: "I'm really excited, I'm very nervous as well because the starfish are really large.

"Just seeing it finished will be absolutely worth it if it brings a smile to someone's day."

Previous themes for trails in Hornsea included puffins, moths, rats and toads.

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