Three 30-foot hand-crocheted lions will be displayed in the East Midlands in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The gigantic beasts are the work of Shauna Richardson, from Stoughton, who has been named as the winner of a £500,000 Arts Council commission.

The artist will be asked to create her design to promote the Olympic Games in the East Midlands.

The 41-year-old De Montfort University graduate will use a tonne of wool – the equivalent of wool from 28 sheep – to create the trio of lions and expects to work on them solidly for over two years.

Shauna told the Leicester Mercury winning the commission had come as a huge shock.

She said: "I was delighted to be selected, but I was a bit astounded really because of the calibre of the submissions alongside mine.

"This is the biggest project of my life and it is going to consume my daily life for the next two-and-a-half years."

She explained that her inspiration for the project was Richard the Lionheart, who had a strong association with the region, and his coat of arms, featuring three lions.

When Richard was being held hostage in Austria, profits from English wool produced the lion's share of the ransom paid for his release.

Shauna hopes to use Derbyshire Peak District wool – once the region's most important export. The three lions will be displayed in a giant glass case.

The final location of the artwork has yet to be decided, despite some reports that it will be in Nottingham. Shauna is one of 12 artists from across the UK and Northern Ireland selected for regional commissions.

She saw off competition from more than 2,000 other entries to win a slice of the £5.4m pot.

She was shortlisted alongside five other East Midlands artists in August and given £5,000 to put together her proposal and create a small prototype.

Shauna said she had spent the past two months working from dawn till dusk barely taking time to eat or sleep as she endeavoured to have the model ready in time.

She said: "A piece of this size would normally take me about four months to create, but I put this together in two."

To create the final work, Shauna will work with a polystyrene sculptor to create the three models before covering them with the hand-crocheted wool "skin". She said: "I hope the public will react in a positive way, though my work has previously been likened to Marmite so I am used to a mixed reaction."

Peter Knott, director arts and development with Arts Council England, East Midlands, said: "We considered Lionheart to be the best proposal as it is unique and on a grand scale.

"Its sheer audacity as an object of art will make it stand out and create considerable interest.

"It will celebrate the region's cultural, industrial and historical heritage while inspiring thoughts about our relationship with other nations and cultures – thereby meeting Olympic ideals."

The Cultural Olympiad began in September 2008 and will continue until the final few days before the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.