A second statue of the woolly wether, who died six years ago, is near completion and will be displayed in Tarras.
Wanaka sculptor and artist Minhal Al Halabi has been working for about three months on the bronze and resin sculpture of the world famous merino, in a sheep yard on the outskirts of Wanaka.
The renegade merino has already been immortalised in a bronze statue, which Mr Al Halabi also made, which is mounted atop a 15-tonne rock brought down from near the cave where Shrek lived, high on Bendigo Station.
"I have this with almost all my work, and particularly with the passing of time, you start to notice things. You say maybe I should have done that or this."
"So it’s nice to have a second chance to get at that little niggle in your head."
Shrek’s owner John Perriam commissioned both works and said the newest one would be placed in Tarras for the public to enjoy. The likeness is based on a photo and Mr Al Halabi said he wanted some of Shrek’s personality to shine through.
"On one hand he is this renegade who couldn’t be caught and I think his face really captures that.
"But on the other side he is a cuddly ball of wool, so I try to have that come through in the work."
There was still a few minor details to be worked on, as well as the finished colour, but Al Halabi was confident it would be finished within the next two weeks.
As well as the previous Shrek work, Mr Al Halabi also created the well known sculptures of William Rees, in the Queenstown Mall, and Possum Bourne, which was on the Pisa Range but is now in Pukekohe.
Mr Perriam said plans for the $25,000 sculpture had been in the pipeline for quite some time.
Shrek would be on display in the Tarras township and there were plans for a small park to be built around the sculpture.
"We’ve got a piece of land there and the idea is we will create a wee park around Shrek, because there are already some nice trees and with some landscape gardening it will look very nice," Mr Perriam said.
Story boards will also be placed around the sculpture with information about Shrek and also the history of the area. There was no set date for the unveiling of the new statue but Mr Perriam said he hoped it would be in place this year.
The town’s new toilets, which are being built not far away, would feature two murals of Shrek.
