Future is cast in gold for iconic tennis girl

A Midland model who became the "tennis girl" when she hitched up her skirt in a world-famous photo today spoke of her joy at being immortalised in a life-size golden sculpture.

Fiona Walker was an 18-year-old art student when she posed for friend Martin Elliott, of Stourbridge, in the hot summer of 1976 at Edgbaston Tennis Club.

The iconic picture was later used for an Athena poster and went on to sell more than two million copies.

And now the mother-of-three, from Oldswinford, Stourbridge but now lives in Droitwich, has posed again – this time for a statue that was unveiled at London's Saatchi Gallery.

It has been made to celebrate 35 years since the photo was taken – and marks the release of a book on its global impact.

She spent seven hours having plaster casts made of her body at her home before sculptor Ben Dearnley, 47, spent seven months carefully creating the artwork using measurements from her casts.

Though she does not even like tennis and has earned no money from the photo, Mrs Walker says she is "delighted" it has proved so popular through the generations.

She said: "I think it's excellent but it is quite bizarre to see a younger version of myself in a statue so large. It's nice that the picture lives on and I don't think it will ever go away. I didn't give it a second thought when it was taken and it is great that people are still talking about it." The statue's final design was made from fibreglass and covered in 23.5 carat gold leaf paint alongside a tennis racquet which is held in the sculpture's hand.

It shows the front of the model for the first time and is meant to reveal her "secret smile", said Mr Dearnley, of Bath, Somerset. He said: "It was a lot of fun. I'm 47 and I know the poster from my late teens, as do a lot of men my age. It became part of the fabric of society so to be asked to work on this project was amazing, and it was great to meet Fiona who was really willing to get involved."

The gold statue was commissioned by art director of the original photo Chris Nightingale, who is writing a book about his experiences leading up to the publication of the poster. Mr Nightingale studied fine art and graphic at Wolverhampton Art College and went on to become an art director at the Express & Star before setting up his first advertising agency in Stourbridge.

There are now plans for the statue to tour galleries around the country. The photo was licensed to Athena and became an instant best-seller when first published as a calendar for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.