A SCHOOLGIRL from Marhamchurch has pulled off a masterstroke by winning a national drawing competition hosted by one of the biggest names in transport.
Nine-year-old Kara Tomkinson has seen her drawing of her ideal holiday turned into a show-stopping one-off livery on the side of a National Express coach after she was selected as a ‘Colour the Coach’ winner.
Her design is now on display for thousands of people to see as the coach bearing it rolls along the motorways of the South West.
Kara’s entry was chosen by professional artist Jenny Urquhart who judged competition entries from the South West.
Jenny, aged 39, is well known in the South West for her colourful cityscapes featuring hot air balloons and her work has been exhibited in galleries all over the region, including the Royal West of England Academy.
Jenny picked Kara’s picture out of hundreds of others after the artist spotted the eye-catching design of London’s South Bank, including the London Eye, the London Aquarium, Waterloo Bridge and the Thames, and decided it was the best.
As part of the competition, children aged 5 to 15 from all over the country were asked to unleash their imaginations and draw a picture of their ideal holiday.
After being judged by local artists, the winning designs from each region have been turned into special one-off liveries featured on National Express’ coaches and each winner was handed a £50 cheque.
Kara was overjoyed after hearing she had won and when she saw the design on the coach for the first time she thought it looked amazing.
She said: “I’m really happy that I won the competition, which I didn’t expect to win at all. My family were really pleased that I won, and they came to see me have my picture taken next to the coach.”
“I love going on holiday and going to London with my family is my favourite trip of all.”
Jenny said she was delighted with the amount of talent shown by youngsters in the South West, but she said Kara’s picture really stood out for her.
She said: “I really love this busy London scene as it has a great range of colours, with lots of bold landmarks! I particularly like the small details of cars and people on the picture which bring the scene alive.”
National Express UK Coach managing director Tom Stables said: “We had a fantastic array of entries from children in Cornwall and Kara’s design was particularly brilliant. It’s really great to see how children are inspired by their holidays and use that inspiration to show off their artistic talent.”