Murals
Murals I have created span from full playground walls to the small 'spaces in-between', from foyers and classrooms to halls. Themes explored include animals and the jungle, or books like Narnia and Harry Potter, or exploring the history of communities and nations.
Information about murals
Murals can be painted on a variety of surfaces but the smoother they are the easier it is. If you have a very rough wall or hard to access space, it is quite feasible to paint on to primed boards (marine plywood for outside) and install the work on completion. If painting directly onto a wall, it must be clean dry and in good condition. It should be primed to give a stable painting surface.
Varnishing is essential for wooden supports and I recommend covering the exposed edges of the boards with beading if outside to prevent damp. Don’t varnish over painted brickwork; it stops the bricks from breathing and damp will push off paint and varnish.
The cost of a mural will depend on a number of factors: how much planning is involved (is planning permission required?); location; access; height of the space; number of people involved; complexity of the design; and size.
Collaborative murals
One exciting way to create a mural is to involve a community, whether that is a school, charity, business, hospital or other organisation, in the research, design and painting. Depending on the amount of involvement desired or possible people may be involved in one or more of these stages. For example, in a school a group would work with me to research a subject and from this material produce illustrations. Using these pictures I can produce a scale design for the mural and draw it in place. Depending on the location and risk assessment for the site, groups may then help to paint or I may complete the process.
I am happy to work with groups or individuals at any or all of the stages and can provide advice on materials and logistics.
Commissioned murals
An alternative process is to talk to me about what kind of mural you would like and I will design and paint it. My largest mural to date is a pair of walls in a school hall. Each wall is 14m x 5m and required a scaffolding tower to complete. This Harry Potter themed work has initial ‘wow’ factor but also contains many tiny details to inspire children to read the books to find out what the references mean.
The initial discussions are crucial and may evolve into workshops to gain a broad sweep of ideas. You can decide if you wish to have more than one idea worked up into a scale design.
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