The competition is for all ages and free to enter.

I wanted to attract people to visit the gallery while the resulting display of art works from the competition was on. We only have one week in the gallery from Wednesday 8 October until Wednesday 15 October so it is quite a short time. To add to the interest I wanted to have a live mermaid on display as a model which might encourage more people to come and draw.

Many Celtic myths and legends involve the sea and the selkies or mermaids that occasionally appear in the stories suggest the dark and mysterious creatures of the deep.

As you can imagine it is hard trying to find such a thing at short notice.

There have been a number of recorded sightings of unusual creature in this area. We still have stories today of the Beast of Bont and of Borth Bog. But I was stuck when faced with finding a live mermaid.

There have been a number of stories of sailors seeing such things along the sixty mile coast of Ceredigion and, with the recent opening of the coast path, there most probably will be more sightings.

Legends of mermaids are based on sightings of seals or manatees but some say they have seen the real thing. Some sort of half woman half fish creature that some say lures sailors to their death or casts a sinister curse on those who see them.

So if you feel brave enough you can view one for yourself. We can now claim to have one here at Ceredigion Museum.

If you know of any tales about mermaids I would be very interested to hear them. It would seem that no one really knows whether there are mermaids but if you want to see one for yourself, and have a go at drawing, then visit Ceredigion Museum between 3.00pm and 4.00pm between Wednesday 8 and 15 October.

All entries for the Myths and Magic of Ceredigion drawing competition have to be in the museum by Friday 3 October. All works will be displayed in the gallery for a week. No framed works and remember to include your name and address, contact number or e-mail on the back. More details are on the museum web site or the national campaign for drawing web page. There will be prizes of quality art materials for the best entrants in each category, some of which have been donated by Derwent pencil factory.

Article by Stuart Evans