This stunning graphic really does show Cwmbran as a dinosaur. How many landmarks can you spot on Cwmbranasaurus? I’ll give you a starter. Can you see the Tower Block?
Andy Council, a Bristol artist, created it in 2006. He told Cwmbran Life: “My style of working where I create a creature out of other objects came about more than ten years ago now. I was doing a fair bit of work for a recycling promotional group and one of the projects they gave me was to create a monster made up of rubbish.
“The designs proved to be very popular, particularly the ones that looked like dinosaurs, so I decided to take the idea further and incorporate architectural elements in to the prehistoric beasts.
“I created what is now known as ‘The Bristol Dinosaur’ – a beast made up of buildings and landmarks from Bristol, Bath and other parts of the West of England where I am from.
“I think what I was trying to do was capture the life and spirit of an area, all the places that have meaning to local people and condense them into one living form which residents could identify with.
“The Bristol Dinosaur gained a life of its own and appealed to people living in the region. Soon, residents of other places wanted their own city beast too…..
“In 2006 I think I was having a bit of a dry spell in illustration work, so to help me out and also so as to have an unusual and original piece of art in their home, my partner’s parents commissioned the Cwmbranasaurus. They have always lived in the South Wales area and now live in Cwmbran.
“I have been over to visit them many times over the years and I am pretty familiar with the area. We went out and did a tour of the town with a camera trying to get the key spots that would make a good dinosaur.
“Finding landmarks in the area was pretty tricky compared to other places which have famous landmarks and very recognisable buildings, but it was the more quirky, unusual places and countryside that would form this creature.
“My partner’s parents’ house is in it and also the lake they sailed their boat in is behind.
“After a day’s research I think the piece must have taken me about a week to draw up and colour digitally. My partner’s parents then had it printed and framed.
“To this day it is in the hallway of their house and proves to be a talking point for visitors. I think the plan was to maybe sell more prints of it, but never really came about. It is a pretty niche thing.”
You can follow Andy on Twitter at @andycouncil . Visit his website to see more of his original artwork.
Andy Council is a Bristol based artist who creates composite beasts made up of architectural landmarks and other recognisable elements. The city of Bristol is often present in his work as are Dinosaurs which have become one of his main motifs. His work takes the form of illustration, painting, sculpture and huge spray painted murals which can be seen across the city. His most recent mural ‘The West Street Horse’ has become a landmark in the South Bristol area. His work has been featured in publications such as The Guardian, Marie Claire and Time Out and he has work in Bristol City Museum’s permanent collection.