Leon Leading: An exquisite sculpture designed by renowned artist PJ Crook

Date published: 23 May 2024

Leon Leading – Looking for the Ark: An exquisite sculpture designed by renowned artist PJ Crook

We are incredibly thrilled to announce that PJ Crook is supporting the pride and has designed our very first little lion!

PJ exhibits her work internationally including in Canada, the USA, Estonia, Japan and France. She has also worked on exciting commissions from around the globe – the Netherlands, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia etc. Her paintings can PJ’s paintings can be seen more locally in The Wilson, Gloucester City Museum, the atrium of Gloucestershire College, the Laurie Lee building on the University’s Pittville campus, the Holst Museum, St Michael & All Angels church Bishops Cleeve and last but not least the restaurant at Gloucester Royal Hospital. Her work has been reproduced on many book covers and CDs including for the Oxford University Press, Livres de Poche, Penguin and on more than twenty King Crimson albums.

PJ Crook was awarded an MBE for services to art and created this exceptionally beautiful design which has a very important meaning behind the stunning artwork.

“Stories of floods have occurred throughout history but never so much as in this era of climate change where we are also losing animals to extinction; so the tale of the creatures making their way two-by-two to the Ark is more relevant than ever. Here Leon leads the beasts, fish, fowl and insects to the Ark which is partially hidden small scale on his body. Sometimes I have painted the animals in pairs but at others I have placed them further apart as I thought there was fun to be had finding the ‘missing’ partner. I have painted Leon as a complex lion as I wanted his tale to be more fabulous.”

We are beyond grateful to PJ for transforming our lion sculpture into a breathtaking work of art. Her creativity and generosity have truly brought this project to life and will not only captivate all who see it, but also help to transform cancer care in our community.

To find out more about PJ Crook and her work, please visit www.pjcrook.com

Event Photo by Anna Lythgoe Photography and School Photo by David Jenkins Photography.