Creature feature for teen artist's exhbition (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Creature feature for teen Croydon artist's exhbition

8:00am Thursday 3rd November 2011 in Exhibitions By Hannah Williamson

A Croydon schoolgirl exhibited her unique artwork at the Royal Opera Gallery, over half term.

Jessica Payn's art entitled Eccentric Animalia was displayed at the gallery between October 24 and 29.

The 16-year-old's paintings of different animals fused together were transferred to t-shirts and mugs and sold to art lovers, raising more than £3,000 for disability charity Scope.

Speaking of the inspiration behind the unusual paintings, the A-Level student at Croydon High School, said: "My mum and I go on a few eccentric holidays and when we were in Mongolia we played this game where I would draw a head and she would do the body and we would end up with some weird looking creatures.

"I was so quite proud to have had an exhibition but my mum put a lot of the work in to it."

Jessica's work includes Lionebrabrog on rabbitish, where a lion, zebra, frog and rabbit meet and Elephantiraffetree, which fuses an elephant, giraffe and tree.

She said: "I have an image in my head before I start painting then I do some sketches to see what will work together.

"I look to do all pieces in one go and the only exception was the Elephantiraffetree it took longer because I used oil so it needed more attention and work."

Deborah Bines, Head of Events and Community at Scope, said: "People do amazing things for Scope every day of the year, but not many of them feature such eye-catching and original works of art.

"I certainly cannot remember another occasion when a 16-year-old has put on her own exhibition in such a prestigious London venue.

"This really is a one-off. I'd like to thank Jessica, her mum and everyone involved in the exhibition for all their hard work."