Living Ocean Art Project

This is a crowdfunding for complete painting number 6. comprising of 2 acrylic glass plates 185x165cm, acrylic paints and pigments, 300 hours of studio work over 3 months, Aluminium hermetically sealed frame, and other costs for 4 helpers.
I am an Australian artist now living in Germany. I started this unique art project 7 years ago and up to 50% has been financed by local shops and companies local and overseas friends as well as government Stipendiums. This is the first time in Germany that such a huge art installation has been installed using acrylic glass and special frames. The goal of the project is to influence children and youth to be able to use their own power of imagination and be attracted to modern art as well as to send a message informing the public about global pollution of the worlds oceans inside a public building.

We need to have the courage to think differently, to take risks to decide for something exceptional and not that what is safe, wellknown and accepted. This is why I feel that transforming the Hermann Weber Bad into a cultural magnet, a center of art and recreation is a step towards making eitorf a place where people want to visit and even a place where people want to live. This is the reason why I want to introduce this project to make a change for a town that I have learned to love but also a town that i strongly feel yearns for colour, art, passion and creativity.
Ray Wilkins
The local town council of Eitorf has signed a contract with us to install a planned art installation. Unfortunately Eitorf is a poor town and does not have a budget for art. It was decided that we the business people and private citizens of Eitorf would raise the money through contributions and funding programs. We are filled with hope, Passion and the belief that art can change our society. Climb onto the boat and sail with us into the artistic waterworld of the Hermann Weber bad.

A unique experiment using Art and interior construction to create a space where Art, form, colour and passion coexist to manifest something that has never before been seen within a public swimming center. We plan eight large artworks 165 x 185 cm painted on two transparent layers of acrylic glass with a third plate of safety glass, framed and sealed to be mounted on a wall 28 meters long that runs along a sport swimming basin. As well as this 2 large glass fiber/concrete fish sculptures 3m x 3m with ceramic inlays that will also function as a bench and resting place. Children and handicapped will also be working together with Ray Wilkins, Dieter Baumann and his team.

Who is Ray Wilkins:
Ray Wilkins is an Australian artist now living in Europe. His work is influenced by his strong connection to the Australian Aborigines. He believes in the emotional aspect of Art. «Art must move the observer, releasing joy, sadness, passion or anger. A work of art that does not stimulate feelings and emotion is not a work of art but a boring piece of decoration»

He specialises in figurative painting his themes being large Faces, Eyes, Fish and landscapes. He has exhibited worldwide and works from his studio and gallery together with his artist wife Cordula Ehms in a small German town 30 miles from Cologne. As well as being an artist he is also a wellknown Coach/therapist, Songwriter and book author.


My project is special because ...
Eitorf is a small town near Bonn, it is a town that because of the Second World War lost many buildings, when it was built up again nobody noticed that the town was turning into an «ugly duckling» Most buildings were mismatched and the dominant color was grey and brown. Even up to this day and the influence of modern architecture Eitorf is still a grey , monotonous somewhat depressing town. I believe that through color, form and art the town where I live and work will change, starting with a large public building used for sport and swimming I want to bring the heart back to Eitorf. The first step into transforming this town into a vibrant, rainbow coloured swan.