PRIESTLEY College student Francesca Boyer has seen her work displayed on one of the world’s biggest stages.

She was asked by The Great Dane Club to create two life-size dogs for their stand at Crufts – an event attended by around 160,000 visitors every year and with an even greater audience watching on television.

Francesca was asked by Joanne Walton to paint the Great Danes, which stood proud at the club’s stand in the Discover Dogs section and won ‘Best Booth in the Working Group’.

“We wanted to give the stand a revamp and wondered whether anyone at the college could help,” said Joanne.

“We’ve got a really good stand so Francesca’s work will stand proud for everyone to see. Danes are gentle giants and the public love to see how big they really are so Francesca has really helped with that.”

Joanne, of Ravendane Great Danes, has been breeding Great Danes for 40 years and is one of the top breeders in the country for Harlequins and Mantles.

When she approached the Art department at Priestley College, tutor Steve Lane asked Francesca if she would step up and help.

“I believe in serendipity and it turned out that Francesca actually visits Crufts with her family so it was the perfect challenge for her,” said Steve.

The Fine Art student, who attended Kings Academy, used photographs of Joanne’s former champion dogs as her muse.

It took her 14 hours outside of her usual lesson time to complete the pieces.

“It was such a great opportunity that I was happy to put in the extra hours to get the work done,” she said.

“I got to visit Crufts and to see my work as part of the event was amazing.”