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The Bigger Picture

Murals, display panels and installations on a larger scale
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When the opportunity arises, or the creative need dictates, I enjoy working on a larger scale.  There's a wonderful tension in suddenly moving from an A3 sheet of white paper demanding that particular kinds of marks be made all over it, to a giant sheet of Atlantis Watercolour Paper (see Atlantis website page) which demands not only much bigger brushes but a different way of thinking!  Or being faced with two panels of MDF joined together and ready primed presenting a shimmering white surface measuring over 5 square metres demanding that the carefully prepared thumbnails be convincingly multiplied a hundred-fold!   In recent years I have completed a range of large-scale mural projects - some on site and some in the studio - and each has presented a different challenge.  Some of them are illustrated below.

RSPB Pulborough Brooks nature reserve, West Sussex, UK
Visitor Centre display panel
rspb pulborough brppks_face 2rspb pulborough brooks_finished muralrspb pulborough brooks_mural face 1
The shape of the mural panel was dictated entirely by the beams surrounding the space on the wall of the convereted barn which is the visitor centre at the reserve.  On my first visit to the site I measured the space and made notes about what function the panel was to serve. As Pulborough Brooks is a particularly important site during winter when large numbers of wildfowl and waders arrive from Northern Europe and the Arctic to spend the winter months, as well as being a very important site for breeding summer migrants and passage birds too, the design staff  had come up with the idea of having each side of the panel showing these two main seasonal characteristics.  Then, as the panel hung on two substantial hooks, it was simply a matter of lifting it off and turning it around in Spring to show the one side - and turning it round again to tell a different story in the Autumn.  
The mural can be seen in the reserve visitor centre from 10am - 5pm daily.  For more information visit: RSPB Pulborough Brooks Reserve
RSPB Elmley Marshes nature reserve, Kent, UK
Mural for main reserve hide, completed January 2005
rspb elmley reserve_mural study
The brief for this mural was to show a whole range of birds usually to be seen at Elmley at different times of the year.  On the first visit I chose a prominet view point close to the hide where the mural would go, and on a sequence of 10 seperate A3 watercolour sheets rapidly sketched a paronamic interpretation of the landscape (see above) emphasizing on each new turn the key elements that caught my eye.  Back in the studio I stuck all the drawings together and pinned the result to the end wall of the studio.
rspb elmley reserve_mural layout
Then, working on a rough version of the final piece with the field notes and sketches as my main reference, I had to set the species from a list against the key elements and scale of the landscape - but I also wanted to make sure I portray the essential character of the marshes Elmley.  The draft outline of the mural (above) was then circulated among Elmley staff and the RSPB regional office for comments and suggestions - and final approval.
rspb elmley mural_ final working
Whilst waiting for final approval I prepared the two 12mm MDF panels with three coats of PVA on the reverse to seal them, (making very sure to cover all the edges too), and three coats of white gesso on the working surface.  Using acrylic paints and oil pastels I set to work taking about two weeks in all to finish it.  The completed the mural surface was then sealed with three coats of clear matt acrylic varnish.  It was installed at Elmley in March 2005.
The mural can be seen in the reserve visitor centre from 10am - 5pm daily.  For more information visit: RSPB Elmley Nature Reserve

UNEP - WCMC United Nations Environment Programme
World Conservation Monitoring Centre Cambridge headquarters, UK
WCMC 2WCMC 5WCMC 1WCMC 3
The new building replaced a warren of portakabins and run-down offices which WCMC had occupied on the same site for a number of years. It was designed with great consideration for the environment having a rainwater collection system, triple glazing, maximum insulation etc. etc.  The final touch was to be a weather vane and I was commissioned to produce a design.  After consulting with the directorate and architect I talked various ideas through with the fabricator (a blacksmith) to work out technical details before we all agreed on the motif of elephant and calf.  It was installed in place at a 'topping-off' ceremony held on a rainy day in 1991.

For more information about UNEP-WCMC visit http://www.unep-wcmc.org
'Migration Game'
Sandwell Valley RSPB Reserve, West Midlands, UK
In 2001 the RSPB commissioned a ‘migration game’ mural for their visitor centre at the Sandwell Valley Nature Reserve which lies in a green valley fragment between the M5 and M6 motorways within the urban and industrial fringe of Birmingham.

As the centre would be heavily used by local schools in particular, it was decided to make the mural interactive in elements which explained the strategic importance of Sandwell to the seasonal journeys of many thousands of migrating birds as they pass between Africa  and Europe, and between Europe and the Arctic.    
Thee background mural painting has dynamic elements on its surface - a mixture of flaps to lift, dials to turn and holes to peep through - which enable young visitors to access factual information about bird migration and see a little about the significant part Sandwell plays in the journeys of many birds in Spring and Autumn.

For more information about the reserve visit: http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/s/sandwellvalley/index.asp
rspb_sandwell_valley_nature_reserve

 rspb_sandwell_valley_reserve_,bird migration game
bird_migration_game_sandwell_valley_rspb_nature_reserve

(Left)  Looking across the reserve towards the visitor centre
(above) Visiting children  playing 'The Migration Game'
RSPB Headquarters - The Lodge, Bedfordshire, UK
Mural for main entrance office building, completed 2003
Commissioned in 2002 as an ‘interpretation frieze’ to run high up around three of four main walls of the visitor entrance to the RSPB Lodge reserve the work was designed to fit around a number of small alcoves and door wells, and in total measured 15 metres x 1.2 metres. The sequence of drawings notes and sketches gathered during visits to the reserve were combined in an imaginative piece that would present to visitors preparing to enter the reserve a feeling for the characteristics of the reserve and an indication of the various distinctive habitat types and species likely to be encountered.

For more information about visiting the RSPB reserve at The Lodge, follow the link.
rspb the lodge_finished mural 2 		rspb_the lodge_mural 1rspb the lodge_mural in place 1
(Above top) Having drafted a number of ideas following a day-long sketching session at the reserve, I made a model of the room shape to determine the relationship between the panels and how they would appear seen at different angles from below.  (Above and left)  Two of the panels in place.