Buckets of money raised by local artist's Oor Wullie sculpture
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A CAITHNESS artist's Oor Wullie sculpture proved popular with the bidders at a charity auction, raising a remarkable £7000.
Shelagh Swanson's comic-book hero design – called Wullie of the Glen – had a farming theme and was one of 50 lots to come under the hammer at Aberdeen and Northern Marts' Thainstone Centre, in Inverurie, on Tuesday night.
More than £315,000 was raised for the Archie Foundation with the money going to children's hospitals in Aberdeen and Inverness.
Delighted with the amount made, Shelagh said: "It was really exciting and such a privilege to be part of the whole thing. It is incredible to think that £7000 was raised for charity – it is more than I could ever donate myself."
The artist was able to go to the auction and said the room was packed out with over 100 people also bidding online.
The people bidding on her Oor Wullie were sitting nearby so that made it particularly exciting and they messaged her after to say how "chuffed" they were and that she could go and visit him in his new home.
Discovering later that the buyers were part of the Aleron Group, ROV system specialist, based at South Fornet, Skene, Aberdeenshire, Shelagh said: "It's actually on a farm, so he'll be right at home! He's going to take pride of place in their boardroom."
While working on the sculpture, Shelagh – who grew up on the family farm at Tister, Halkirk – became quite attached to her "wee boy", adding: "I think that was because it conjured up really nostalgic memories. It made me think about myself when I was wee."
Mark Barrack, the auctioneer who sold Wullie of the Glen, also had a Caithness connection, having worked in the county in the early 1990s when Quoybrae was being built. He said he would miss seeing the comic-book character from his office window.
The auctioneer added that the aptly themed Oor Wullie, who sported a Hereford bull on his back, had brought lots of people to the Thainstone Centre and had been well photographed.
The local artist's colourful design was one of 200 life-sized sculptures which formed the Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail – a public arts trail covering 700 miles across Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh and Glasgow this summer.
As well as the Caithness inspiration, Shelagh also gave her work a nod to the surrounding landscape of Aberdeenshire, her adopted home, by including a depiction of Bennachie.
The Thainstone auction was the second of four being held by ANM Group this month in different venues.
ANM director and auctioneer Alan Hutcheon said: “We are delighted to be involved in such a high-profile charity initiative and once again play our part in raising funds for very worthwhile charities.
“This is the fourth major charity auction that ANM has facilitated and we’re very proud to have helped raise nearly £2 million over the past few years.”
Mr Hutcheon said that it had been great having their very own ANM-sponsored Oor Wullie at Inverurie and believed that Wullie of the Glen had helped raise the profile of the agriculture industry.
He added: “Shelagh Swanson did a fantastic job and her passion for farming is clearly evident in every detail."
