THE Year 2 class at St Andrew’s School in Buckland Monachorum had an exciting surprise visit from Kirsty Elson, a local artist.

The children had been undertaking a unit of work on how houses are represented in art. Their teacher, Sarah Burke, had followed the work of Kirsty through the artist’s Facebook page which has more than 250,000 followers.

Kirsty uses drift wood and collected, recycled materials to make miniature painted houses, harbour and village scenes. With the woodworking support of the school caretaker and keen art enthusiast, David Cox, the children used wood blocks and materials that they had collected, to create their own unique houses in the style of Kirsty Elson.

They were so delightful that Sarah decided to send some photos to Kirsty to show her what an inspiration her work had been.

The artist said that it had made her day and asked for permission to share her them on her Facebook page. Within 24 hours, the post had gone viral, with nearly 5,000 people in more than 91 different countries across the world ‘liking’ or commenting on the post!

Kirsty then asked whether she could come and see the work for herself in person and spent a lovely morning with the children looking at and talking about each child’s work, and answering the many questions that the children had about her own work.

Teacher Sarah and all the children in Year 2 were incredibly grateful that she took the time to visit and share in the children’s excitement of their new found global fame!

Kirsty’s work can be found on her Facebook page, Kirsty Elson Designs or her website www.kirstyelson.co.uk