Murals

I love planning and painting murals. Inevitably they’re very labour intensive especially if detail is required, covering an expanse of wall or wood panels using an artist’s brush. I like a wall painting to look good from afar and work at detail level too, to contain visual surprises and tell a story. Realising when to stop painting is an art in itself. Over the years I have learnt which paints suit which surfaces. The weather is inevitably a player in the success of an exterior mural, good prep of the surface is imperative to be sure that the paint adheres to the wall, as it is usually the intention that the mural will exist for a good period of time.

Often before painting a mural sometimes alongside children and staff, I take workshops to generate collective ideas ( the children devise the story). I then interpret these into a working plan for consultation , we then paint the mural together section by section. I tailor the project to suit the abilities of the clients.

Highlights include : a mural devised and painted alongside both primary and high school kids and staff , which was then brought to life in an animation by animator Emma Lazenby in a short and funny film called ‘Schnozers Journey’.

My fave mural so far was painted for St Edmunds Nursery School, Bradford. Joy and enthusiasm from start to finish! Two astonishingly sophisticated themes are depicted in the playground painting-one in the background and the other in the foreground. These inner city pre- school children had recently looked and talked about 1)Egyptian hieroglyphics ( I updated the symbols ‘language’ to make them humorous and relevant) and 2) Kandinskys painting ‘The Rocking’ - but our ‘washing line’ depicted teddies and ballet dancers and spiders -web handkerchiefs, it’s quite surreal ! I painted a trompe L’oeil oak tree (formerly a puny bush) which had a very discreet glass of wine hidden amongst the branches, for the teachers. Paulina the parrot sits in the bows of the tree and 2 children composed a short ditty about her called ‘don’t forget Paulina’. A liquorice all-sort tower denotes where kids line up for games. When the local paper came to photograph the mural the weather was bizarrely like the Bahamas! But prior to that it had been wintery, windy and rainy despite being July.

I did my first mural in Garston ,Liverpool whilst studying fine art .It was painted in gloss paint- tricky but a brilliant experience . Since then I have painted murals in children's bedrooms and many playground paintings,and indoor school murals.