A SCULPTRESS is poised to take centre stage at the Chelsea Flower Show in a theme garden dedicated to the charity work of the entertainment industry.

Clare Bigger, 30, of Lingfield Avenue in Clitheroe, who works from Trapp Forge Smithy, Simonstone, was commissioned by Help the Aged to design two centrepiece sculptures for its garden at the show in May.

The garden - Stage for Age - is being designed by top horticulturalist Naylor Green of Hampton Court and will pay tribute to actors and entertainers who have supported Help the Aged over the years.

Clare has produced two pieces, one entitled Pierrot after the mime artist and a second yet to be named.

She was asked to take part after producing sculptures for the garden of record giant EMI at last year's show.

Her models of Nipper, the "His Master's Voice" dog, and a violinist took the show by storm.

Clare's sculptures have been exhibited in London, Dublin and Tokyo.

She is a graduate in fine art from the South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education in Cardiff where she experimented with wood-carving and painting giant snail shells before switching to metal.

Unlike many struggling young artists, her sculptures soon began selling and in recent years she has enjoyed lucrative commissions from America and Russia, including from EMI and the Jigsaw clothes chain.

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