Postcard from Rutland

3D pavement art is not something we know much about at Gladwell’s, so it has been fascinating to meet local artist Julian Beever on our very own Mill Street.

Julian, dubbed the ‘Pavement Picasso’, has been commissioned by local businesses to celebrate the area and has chosen to depict Rutland’s recently uncovered ichthyosaur fossil. Discovered in the mud of nearby Rutland Water, this 180-million-year-old skeleton of a ‘fish lizard’ is something of a local celebrity and has become a totem for the area.

Julian is adept at producing startling 3D pictures which either sink into or spring from the pavements onto which they are drawn. In this instance, shoppers will be able to see the fossil sunk in the ground in relief as though newly uncovered. The street art, created painstakingly over several days, will then be left for all to see and surrendered to the mercy of the elements.

The 'Pavement Picasso' will work on the street art until Saturday 14th May.