A NORTH-EAST artist is trying to raise £24,000 to finance his dream.

Steven Cairney wants to take his art to the people, rather than wait for them to come to him.

With that aim in mind, he has launched the Sunflowerchild Project – a bid to take his fine art show to towns, villages and schools throughout the country.

The Darlington-born artist was inspired after struggling to promote his work with galleries in London.

He said: “A thought dawned on me early one day and the question just wouldn’t go away – why is it always London and the large cities that get the big shows, the cool exhibitions and the high end stuff when there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people who live in small towns and villages who love the arts and rarely get chance to go?”

The Darlington artist has now turned to crowd-funding with the aim of raising enough money to develop his project and deliver it.

Crowd-funding works when large amounts of like-minded people donate small amounts of money to fund the dreams of hopeful entrepreneurs like Mr Cairney.

The project creators, in turn, usually offer a reward to their investors.

In Mr Cairney’s case, he will offer rewards ranging from a medallion badge for those who pledge £3.50 to a special edition tshirt for those offering more than £29.

If funded, the artist will spend a year creating a new body of work while posting regular updates to his followers.

He will then attempt to take his show on the road.

For more information, visit sponsume.com/project/steven-cairney-sunflowerchild-project-2014