I would walk 4.6 miles!

Just taking a break from Gromit posting - but on my Gromit hunt on Wednesday, I walked 4.6 miles! 

No wonder I feel like my ankle is broken - not a good idea to do this in flip flops! At least the weather stayed good though! 

More Gromits coming soon! 

I smell something fishy!

A short walk across the bridge to the other side of the harbour took me to my next Gromit - and this one was situated inside Bristol Aquarium - which is definitely somewhere I now want to go!

This is Fish Tales - Gromit Number 12 and is also sponsored by the place where it sits - Bristol Aquarium. It was designed by Jeremy Wade - a writer and TV presenter who specialises in rivers and fresh water fish. He is more recently famous for presenting River Monsters on the BBC and he wanted to metamorphosize Gromit into an underwater fish, but instead went for a special wet suit designed to blend in with the underwater world! 

Gromit Number:          12

Gromit Artist:              Jeremy Wade

Gromit Sponsor:         Bristol Aquarium

Gromit Location:         Bristol Aquarium

You ain't nothing but a Hound Dog!

I wondered about aimlessly a little for this one. When all I really needed to do was look at a sign and realise that this Gromit was hiding away in the Arnolfini too!

So this is Hound Dog - Gromit Number 66 and designed by Sir Peter Blake. Peter is an icon of British pop art who was knighted in 2002 after, among many career highs, designing album covers for bands like The Beatles, The Who and Oasis. This song gives me ear worm - it makes me sing the "You ain't nothing but a Hound Dog" song, over and over again! 

Gromit number:            66
Gromit Artist:               Sir Peter Blake
Gromit Sponsor:           O2 Academy, Bristol
Gromit Location:          Arnolfini

What's your star sign?

So after a sharp change of direction and a stop for an ice cream (Gromit Hunting requires sustenance!), I headed towards the harbourside and to the Arnolfini. Again, this was a location of a Gorilla in 2011, and it was fairly easy to find. 

So this is Zodiac - a purple and pink themed Gromit that sits on the harbourside and is Gromit Number 65. He is designed by Inkie - a London based painter and street artist who is likened to Banksy - Bristol's other famous graffiti artist! His inspiration behind this Gromit was his daughter - who was born deaf. He felt compelled to help raise money by designing this Gromit, to help other children like his daughter. 

Gromit Number:          65

Gromit Artist:              Inkie

Gromit Sponsor:         At-Bristol

Gromit Location:         Arnolfini

Woof Woof!

Further along thunderbolt square and into Queen Square sat the next Gromit - Bark at Ee. Now I didn't have a clue what this meant until Michael told me that a well known Bristolian expression is 'Ark at eee', so now it makes sense! He's been down here too long!

The designer, Leigh Flurry, a Bristolian himself, wanted to create Bristol's icons through his designs. This is Bark at Ee, Gromit Number 16. Leigh is an illustrator and designer who specialises in repeat pattern and vector design.

I quite like this Gromit - very bold pattern but he stands out in the crowd!

Gromit Number:        16
Gromit Artist:             Leigh Flurry
Gromit Sponsor:        Santander
Gromit Location:       Queen Sqaure

And the Winner is....

This has got to be my favourite Gromit, because the name reminds me of my favourite Ridgeback Oscar (and he looks a bit like him too!) This Gromit is towards the entrance to Queen Square.

I love his cute little tux and collar and his cheeky little look! This is Groscar and he is Gromit Number 17. He was designed by Chris Taylor who decided to create this Gromit as a homage to the awards that Aardman Animations have received. Looks like Gromit is going to the Oscars! Chris Taylor is an illustrator and graphic designee from Bristol who also was behind Blackbeardorilla - the Gorilla dressed like a pirate in 2011. 

Gromit Number:         17

Gromit Artist:              Chris Taylor

Gromit Sponsor:         Business West

Gromit Location:         Thunderbolt Square 

Is it a bird, is it a plane....

Across the road from the Cascade Steps and sitting in front of the Subway shop, sits the next Gromit. This one was drawing a lot of attention, especially from a group of about eight nursery children out on a Gromit finding walk. Their cries of Superman Gromit constantly were enough to make anyone smile!

This Gromit is called Hero and is number 15 on the trail. With the current Superman film showing in the cinema just now, this Gromit seems very current! He was designed by Tom Deams and is sponsored by Subway. Tom is a UK based Graffiti artist who also painted a Gorilla (Gertrude) in 2011. I find it strange that a Graffiti artist painted such a simple and colourful Gromit instead of Graffitti-ing it... Tom says that he was inspired by all super heroes but that Gromit is better than all of them and has the haircut to prove it! 

Gromit Number:       15

Gromit Artist:            Tom Deams

Gromit Sponsor:       Subway Bristol and West

Gromit Location:       Subway Harbourside