Coat of arms mosaic created from old glass bottles

Dan Sambell
BBC CWR
Charlotte Benton
BBC News, West Midlands
BBC A multi-coloured mosaic on a wall that is made from recycled glass and pottery. A man with fringed dark hair and wearing black is standing on the right of the mosaic and has the palm of his hand flat against it. The mosaic, which is pale blue, green and brown, is a re-designed version of the Coventry coat of arms and has an eagle and a phoenix on it.  BBC
Scott Duffin has designed his own version of the Coventry's coat of arms from shards of glass

A Coventry artist has redesigned the city's coat of arms using shards of old glass bottles.

Scott Duffin used about 6,000 shards of recycled materials to create his own mosaic version of the historic coat.

Mr Duffin, a keen collector of Coventry memorabilia, said he had mainly used Milk of Magnesia bottles which he had collected from the city's rivers to make the piece.

He added that it had taken him five months to collect all the materials before he spent "hundreds of hours" assembling his design.

A brown mosaic eye that is made from shards of brown glass bottles, with a green marble for the pupil.
Mr Duffin said it took him five months to collect the materials from the city's rivers

The materials used by Mr Duffin also meant he could illustrate the area's football team in his design as Coventry City play in sky blue.

He also incorporated symbol's from the city's official coat of arms, such as an eagle and a phoenix, in order to reflect the area's history.

Mr Duffin said being creative helped to keep him calm.

"I've been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and I suffer from panic attacks that come from nowhere.

"This helps me discover myself as I'm getting older and helps me understand my own head."

Shards of broken glass on paving slabs in a garden. The shards are next to two large MDF boards on easels which have some of the fragments secured onto them. Each of the boards has the outline of a design drawn onto them. The sun is shining on both of the boards.
Mr Duffin said the creative process helped to keep him calm

He added that he had always been "a bit of a collector" and people regularly offered him memorabilia from the city.

"If it's got Coventry on it, or it's part of our history, I can't turn it down," he said.

Among his collection are a 1920s bus stop sign, an old manhole cover and a telephone book.

Listen: Coventry artist redesigns coat of arms as a mosaic

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