A NEW 4.5-metre high copper and steel sculpture for a Devon seaside town was designed and made by an artist and a company from West Devon. The creation, which features a 1.5-metre leaping mermaid, was installed last Thursday. It is the brainchild of Princetown artist Karen Green and her husband Gordon, who together run Greens Weathervanes. Karen said they were first approached by Torbay Council in September of last year. They had already produced a series of 16 trade signs for them and were one of four artists approached for the final phase of the project. ?They said they were looking for a large impressive landmark as a finishing touch to their successful regeneration project in Winner Street, Paignton,? she said. The life-size copper figure was hammered out by hand and constructed from sheet copper. The finished artwork took almost a year to complete and cost £10,000 to produce. Karen said the work was an ?amazing opportunity, but physically demanding?. ?At some points we were literally welding upside down.? The mermaid?s steel foundation was designed with the help of Tavistock-based Steeltech. It features panels depicting Paignton?s history through the ages. Steeltech?s Dave Ellis showed the Greens how to translate their ideas into steel and advised on technical aspects. Pictured at Steeltech in Tavistock during a trial run of assembling the sculpture are co-designer Gordon Green with Dave Ellis of Steeltech.