AN ARTIST from Cirencester has been hand-picked from 2,000 applicants to decorate a huge Shaun the Sheep model, which will feature in a London and Bristol sculpture trail.

Following her success in the Cirencester March Hare Festival last year, Laura Fearn has been chosen to decorate a huge model of the famous Aardman Animations sheep for a new trail named Shaun in the City.

The Stratton mum-of-two designed and painted one of the 5ft hare models which featured in the popular Hare Festival.

Now her Shaun model, as well as 120 others created by artists and celebrities, will appear in two sculpture trails around London and Bristol this spring. They will then go under the hammer to raise money for children’s hospitals.

But Laura, 41, has been sworn to secrecy and said she is not allowed to reveal any details about the design of her sheep.

“I was quite excited when I got the call,” said Laura, who had to apply online. “I spent two weeks in a studio at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol working on it. I started at 9.30am and finished at 9pm.

“There would be about seven other people there doing their sheep too. It was a bit like being back at college. It was hard work and exhausting but lovely to do it.”

The Shaun trail has been created by the same team that launched Gromit Unleashed in Bristol last year, raising £2.3 million for Bristol Children’s Hospital.

Laura plans to visit her Shaun model with her husband and two daughters, aged 10 and five.