Northern Ireland

Plumbridge artist sets world record with huge Pokémon mosaic

Quentin Devine with his mosaic made from nearly 13,000 Pokémon trading cards
Quentin Devine with his mosaic made from nearly 13,000 Pokémon trading cards Quentin Devine with his mosaic made from nearly 13,000 Pokémon trading cards

AN ARTIST from Co Tyrone has set a new world record by creating an enormous Pokémon mosaic.

Quentin Devine, from Plumbridge, used nearly 13,000 Pokémon trading cards to make the artwork which covers more than 750 square feet.

The giant mosaic, which is around 33ft tall and 23ft wide, was unveiled this week at a packed event in Paris.

Featuring Pokémon favourite Pikachu, it secures a new record for the largest single-piece mosaic made from trading cards.

Mr Devine, who now lives outside London, was commissioned to create it as part of events marking the 20th anniversary of the popular Japanese children's franchise.

"I never thought when I was living in Plumbridge that I would have a world record someday – and the best thing is you're paid to do it," he said.

The 38-year-old spent three weeks creating the mosaic in a warehouse in Guildford, but had to make it on rolled-up canvas as the space was too small.

"My friend has a warehouse in Guildford but it just wasn't big enough, so I decided to make it on a row of pasting tables for wallpapering, and I made these rigs to put this massive tube on. I just nailed the canvas onto that and made it on the tables," he said.

"I had a house full of boxes of Pokémon cards – it was insane."

And the father-of-three had to work while two cameras from Guinness World Records recorded him to prove he made it.

"At one stage it almost fell apart and I was sweating, but I got there in the end," he said.

Mr Devine said he was amazed by the huge interest in Paris.

"You could see the fans. You see how crazy they are, tattoos up their arms, all their phones are Pokémon – everything is Pokémon," he said.

"You feel like you're up on a pedestal because these people are all such big fans. One girl came up to me and said, 'This is my life!' They're all really passionate about it.

"All these people were taking photos. I just thought, 'What the hell is going on here?'"

Mr Devine, who studied visual communications at Ulster University's art college, has completed many unusual art and graphic design commissions for global companies from Samsung to Paddy Power.

In one project television channel Dave asked him to carve five soccer players into Brazil nuts.

"Today I've had a request to make Richard Branson's face using breakfast cereal," he said.

"I do jobs like this all the time. The best thing about it is that no job is ever the same. I always say yes first, and then work out how to do it later."