Bitumen base for work of art

'It has this lovely leathery skin texture and it's very versatile. I felt inspired when I discovered Anderson Vapouplan XL. Workmen at the art college were using the product and I thought it was teriffic.'

What is going on here? Why is the woman in this picture being quoted? And what has it all got to do with Shell Bitumen who supplied the picture and quotes?

Carole Andrews, a sculptor from Sittingbourne in Kent, has founded the Bituminous School of Art. In her back garden she creates 10ft high sculptures using a hot torch to weld sheets of felt around chicken wire.

As Shell Bitumen reminds us, Andrews is not the first artist to find inspiration in bitumen. Theodore Gericault used natural bitumen in his pigments for 'The Raft of Medusa' hanging in the Louvre.