THIS is the striking, tricolour snail you will find if you are heading to the i360 on Brighton seafront.

The red, white and blue creation, which also features on our front page masthead today, is the work of Serena Sussex, who lives in Kemp Town, Brighton, and whose art is usually of a more intricate, classical strain.

And it is Quadrophenia, one of the most quintessentially Brighton films, that provided the inspiration for the design, one of the 50 snails in the art trail in aid of the Marlets hospice in Hove.

The 53-year-old artist, who was born in Hong Kong and moved to Brighton from Kent ten years ago, said: “I like the film, it’s a bit of a classic.

“I wanted to do something which epitomised Brighton.

“I love the city for the variety of artists that you meet here and the open houses are a really good thing to see.”

It took Serena two months of painting nearly every day to complete the snail and she said the process was not without its challenges.

She said: “When I saw the snail sculpture for the first time, the shape instantly reminded me of the Vespa scooters from the film.

“The first challenge was working with a curved canvas as I had to ignore the contours and just paint as if I was painting a flat surface.

“It took a week to draw out the lines and the mod symbol.

“At this point I was very much going at a snail’s pace.

“I also didn’t realise the lines on the flag have to be in a very particular way.

“The correct way to hang the flag vertically is literally turning the flag 90 degrees anti-clockwise, so I certainly learnt a lot about the British flag.

“It is a real break from my normal style, it was really unusual for me as I was painting within the lines.

“I am known for atmospheric landscape and nature oil paintings, but I wanted to create something unique for Snailspace, something that epitomised our city’s cool vibe.”

Painting with all the other artists in the secret Snailspace HQ warehouse was a “great inspiration” she said.

“There were so many talented people and it was nice to come into the warehouse and see the gradual process of all the snails.

“We learnt a lot of tips from each other and being with such a great group of helpful artists, we will all definitely remain good friends.”

Now the snails are out and about in Brighton and Hove, Serena is happy with the feedback so far.

“My friend told me the other day that it looked really impressive against the sea backdrop and her young daughter really enjoyed seeing it,” she said.

“It was the first time I have done this and it was nice to do something completely different.”

Serena’s landscape and nature paintings, including one of the i360, will be exhibited at The Laughing Dog gallery in Marina Square in Brighton from October 18 to 28.