newsDecember 19, 2016 at 4:22 pm

Two Orkney schoolgirls are seeing their artwork flying high over the skies above the islands after winning an art competition organised by Loganair.

Two aircraft which operate on the inter-islands air service have now been given a colourful makeover featuring the designs by Erynn Stevenson and Danni Muir.

The two pupils won a competition organised to design a tail-fin picture for each of the Britten Norman Islander aircraft which carry out the air service, which of course includes the 1.7 mile hop between Westray and Papa Westray, recognised by Guinness World Records as the shortest scheduled air-service in the world.

The contest was organised by the airline Loganair, which operates the service on behalf of Orkney Island Council.

The competition was open to all 16 of Orkney’s primary and junior high schools with 554 entries received in total. The judging panel which included representatives from Loganair, Orkney Island Council and The Orcadian.

11-year-old Danni Muir of Dounby Community School took the first prize for the primary school age category, creating an eye-catching illustration of an Orcadian skyline, which also includes two puffins.

The top prize in the Junior High bracket was claimed by 14-year-old Erynn Stevenson of Stronsay Junior High School whose pastel artwork of a sunset was a unanimous favourite with the judging panel.

Both first and second prize winners will receive a pair of return tickets to any destination in Loganair’s Scottish network, and the winners got to see the designs for themselves emblazoned on the planes at Kirkwall Airport on Monday morning.

For the primary school section, second was Jess Ewing, 11, from St Andrews Primary and third was Alan Sinclair, 11, of Dounby Community School.

In the Junior High School section, second place went to Kacey Brown, 13, of Sanday Community School, while third was Frideswide Clarkson,13, of Sanday Community School.
Stromness supplied the largest number of entries, sending across a total of 88 artworks while North Ronaldsay Primary School’s only pupil, 11-year-old Teigan Scott, also took part.

Jonathan Hinkles, Loganair’s managing director said: “Firstly let me extend my congratulations to our two winning artists – it’s a marvellous achievement to stave off competition from more than 500 other entries.

“Your designs will be seen in the skies above Orkney which really is a prize money can’t buy. I’d also like to say a big well done to the four runners-up while offering thanks to everyone who took part.

“The quality of the artworks we received was extremely impressive and it was pretty difficult to narrow down a shortlist never mind select an overall winner but after much deliberation we’ve picked six designs. Hopefully the framed artworks we’ve provided will decorate your houses for many years to come.”