The first interior wall mural I painted was at Barrie House, it led to the first community project at the Oak Tree Centre in South Acton. Acton used to be called Acorn, if you check out some of the other artwork on this site, you will see the running theme of Oak Trees and Acorns.
I wrote a poem, about the daily experience of living in the tower block, the 18th floor was high up and many just couldn't bear the smell of urine on the lifts. I don't blame them, but I got on with it and sent the poem to my local councillor. He wrote back and said to go and see Martin Frost, who was the local Community Centre Manager. I did and we struck a deal, the conversation about the poem opened doors and after hearing about what I'd painted on the bedroom wall Martin was ready to go! with me ready and willing to run a Community Mural Project. With the possibility of paint donations from Dulux Paint the vision of a mural in South Acton were already manifesting! The poem was subsequently published and the photos below speak for themselves. I'm updating the parts of this site seasonally, it's now time for the murals!!
PRESS RELEASE
The 2D totem pole structures were the first to be made, as seen here.
7 Sheets of plywood were used 4' x 8' (courtesy of South Acton Timber Merchants) Each one had to be primed first. For exteranl murals it is best to treat the wood so that it will withstand the elements.
- the first sheet of ply was cut lengthways for the totem pole paintings - 4 sheets were used for the main panels - 2 were cut widthways, allowing us to create 4 predellas to go beneath each of main panels. Predellas are additional pictorial artworks, which lend to the allegory in a main setting. In others words a connected theme usually as wide as the main artwork, but much narrower from top to bottom.
PAINT FROM DULUX Most of the paint was from Dulux as the first stage of a National Competition, but Martin's idea to use pigment tints helped to achieve a greater variety of hues and tones in the construction of images.
The finished murals were sealed with varnish, for further protection and the screw heads (suggested by Martin) were put in with a final force of the hammer to make sure they weren't removed. So whoever did finally take them down, hope you did it with preservation at heart! The wooden mural panels lasted almost 22 years, so all you folk who took part.. let's celebrate !
If you took part and want to add to the site in any way (yes Martin, you too!!) contact me via ismakingmurals@aol.com
taking roots from the 18th floor of a tower block in South Acton..
We lived on the 18th floor, you can just about make out a glimpse of the butterfly I made from sticky back foil (2nd floor down on the right).
The Oak Tree Centre can be seen at ground level to the right of the block. Berrymede School across the way were to bring forth a host of budding artists and willing children who didn't realize that they could draw with paint!
and Albert Ludwort RIP you were and still are a great artist!
2 panels to the left: 'Out of this World' and 'Town & Country' scenes
You can see the totem panels installed here, aren't they colouful? There was some controversy about having such images outside a place that was 'used for Holy purposes' but creation is Holy! they stayed.
To the left is a Town and Country setting. Barrie House was included, with improvisations of the surrounding estate. My daughter Stella was the youngest to make her mark here.. at just 18 months with a paintbrush at hand and dabbling with pigment. Under-graduate at Wimbledon School of Art, Stella previously completed a Foundation in Art & Design at Wimbledon. She had taken up the very course (at Chelsea School of Art) that I turned down after discovering that I was pregnant with her!
Beside this is what I entitled 'Out of this World Theme'. After contacting John Angus (headmaster at Berrymede School), the pictures that were submitted included a few of spaceships, rockets, a moon buggy too! The theme was to be a 'world theme' and different aspects of different cultures around the world were to be included.. dress, food, buildings, domestic and natural habitat creatures. It showed that some saw the world as bigger than what we see before us. I still think that moon buggy is the business! You'll see it more clearly in the photograph below.
The predella for the 'Out of this World' panel includes a Dr. Spok (from the orginal Star Trek), which Martin's guiding hand helped to create here. I showed the children how a space suit can be made to look baggy by adding crease-lines.
Under the 'Town and Country' panel are a series of skittle-like characters in National Costume. Several magazines were gathered for inspiration and theirs came from the images used for 'Stories from Arond the World'in the Reader's Digest Magazine.
2 panels to the right: 'Polar Region' and 'Tropical'
.. where is it now?
in the late spring/early summer of 2007, the Oak Tree Centre was demolished. The present location of the murals are not known. Hopefully they have been preserved! But they are still.. in these photos, as is Barrie House (now also demolished, the first tower block in South Acton to come down).
The memories of both are here and my art and heart are still flowing in creativity !
where is it now?
a thank you to and from John Angus
11 years later and part of my Batchelor of Arts in Humanities research, the next mural by Making Murals for & by the community was made..
the first requirement of that commission was that I was self-employed.. and so it began!
I found rewards in fostering creativity and still do. These pages coming together now (updating through Autumn 2008) are for you the creative seeker, to pass it on.
and on to university
contact us enquiries@isharmony.com telephone: 020 3255 0133 (within UK) / 0044 20 32 55 01 33 (outside UK) registered business name/address: MAKING MURALS (Is Harmony) 15 Windermere Road, Ealing, London W5 4TJ, Great Britain
