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Swindon, Then, When & Now

In 2019, Artsite were working to improve the aesthetics of the buildings in Theatre Square. We had received funding from the Parish Council and commissioned Billy Beaumont to design and install a mural for the side wall at Number Nine.

We asked for suggestions of people, places and business that you might like to see included into the fabric of the design, which represent the past, present and future of Swindon’s identity. After the survey was complete Billy incorporated all the suggested characters and buildings from the survey.

In July the mural was complete and in place, thanks to a great turn out from the residents of Swindon who helped to paint the mural we ended up with a very colourful rendition of Swindon, Then, When & Now indeed.

https://www.artsite.ltd.uk

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The proposed design for the town centre mural. To include extra characters of Swindon and businesses.

Just a few piccies of the many helpers from all around Swindon that came along.

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The completed Mural, varnished and ready to hang. With help from local artists we built a billboard frame for the designated wall and put the mural sections in place. It was a pleasure working on the mural in situ as local passers by gave positive feedback.  

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We decided to frame the mural too for added protection from the elements.

Next was the launch, a lovely turn out and Ken White, Swindon artist, came along to cut the ribbon adding a perfect touch to the completion. 

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Shortly after completion, one of my little helpers came along and identified the red car she had painted, so cute. 

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A huge thank you to everyone that came along to help, you have all done a marvellous job and please feel free to contact me if you haven't received your mural greeting cards as a thank you for all your hard but fun work.

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Crowdys Hill School Project
Rata And The Tree

Crowdys Hill School Project, Rata and the Tree.

A mural based on the New Zealand story of Rata and the tree, a young warrior that wanted to save his tribe from the onslaught of bad weather on the island that they resided on. Rata came up with the idea to carve a large boat from an ancient tree to carry his tribe to another more habitable island. Rata chose the perfect tree for his venture but unfortunately he forgot to give thanks to the forest for the use of the tree. The insects and creatures of the forest weren't happy with Rata's forgetfulness, so every evening they put the tree back together until he remembered to give thanks for the use of the tree. Only then was he able to continue to fulfill his venture.  

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Above is the proposed idea for the mural, leaves to be painted and messaged by the students plus spaces to be left in the branches for ongoing pieces of artwork, by the students to be displayed. 

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The next stage was sculpting the insects and creatures in the story that put the tree back together to be made by the students of the school.

Instructional videos were created by myself for the students to create these weeks before my arrival for the mural, plus leaf blanks were cut for the students to paint and message onto.

The next stage was to prep the area for the mural, a quick clean of the brick wall and then primed for the sketching out of the design. Designed to be as a colouring book for the students to paint.

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Over a 100 students arrived in small groups over the week to then paint the mural. Once we were happy that the base artwork was complete, we then moved onto the next stage of applying all of the leaves that the students had created.

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The final stage was to then put in place all of the wonderful creatures that the students had created, I must admit the level of creations, and some with their own ideas, was of very high standard indeed.

Some of the amusing expressions on the creatures and just the sheer quality kept me smiling throughout this stage.

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What an amazing project overall!

All the staff and students made me feel at home from the first to the last minute of this project, something to be proud of just in that respect. 

A huge thank you to my talented assistant and muralist Chloe, not forgetting Donna and Sue who made this project possible and for their hard work and input for organising the smooth running of our creation.

One of my favourite moments was being able to sit in with Donna's class at the end of the day, ending each day with a song and a dance was just the best!

I will miss all of you, Thank you :)

Unity Garden Playground

Lagoon

I was contacted by the Friends of Shaw Ridge, Swindon, asking if I could possibly create an ocean effect on an old playground of Shaw Ridge school. It would coincide with the community beach cove that they had already created and would finish off that area perfectly.

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The first part of the job was to sweep and clean away any surface debris so that we could see what state the tarmac was in. I was told it was about 40 years old and some of the Friends of Shaw Ridge members had played on that playground in their youth. The age and surface of the tarmac is important to review before painting as the original playground paint coverage will be a much less surface coverage than stated the older the tarmac.

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Once we were happy with the tarmac surface it was time to start painting. I started out using solvent based playground paint which really didn't cover much area at all, the recommended area should have been 20-25 metres per tin but they barely covered 3 square metres. So, I called in some water based playground paint and the coverage was way more, especially on old tarmac. I used brushes and a roller, but in retrospect, a spray would have been much easier and quicker for the main colour blocking.

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When the main colours had been added it was time to paint the ripples or wiggles as the children called them.

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Then once we had created our wiggles it was time to put a few finishing touches to the design, water shadows, water washes towards the beach area and a tidy up of the edging, all ready for the children's return from their summer holidays. I did hope that none of the children thought it a good idea to dive in but all was good on the day.

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Gorse Hill School Mural

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Working together with two classes of 30 pupils each, plus staff, on a final design for an in-school mural to reflect the schools CARE values. Also, for the year 6 pupils to leave a lasting legacy within the school in their final year.

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First of all, after explaining the theme, all 60 pupils individually produced a sketch to reflect what their school CARE values meant to them.

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Reviewing all the pupils sketches we came up with a collective rough design of elements that were approved by both the staff and pupils.

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Next stage was for me to prep a base on the mural board and sketch out our final design plus a few tweaks and add-ons ready for the pupils to paint.

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Together with groups of 3 pupils throughout the day, I supervised the painting of the mural with us referencing the rough design for colour placement and all the pupils had the chance to paint until finished. Then we put the text in there before I finished up, while all the pupils were preparing and saying their goodbye's on their last day of school.

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All the pupils did a fantastic job and the finished piece will be on display for all to see within the school for the moment and the future, a lasting legacy indeed for year 6! Superb!

I'd like to thank all the staff and most of all, the pupils, for making me feel so welcome and comfortable from start to finish. Time wasn't on our side but together we achieved our goal with flying colours, quite literally. The best of luck in your future life adventures and thanks again for all the laughs, stories, fun and friendship during my short visit. I hope to see you all again soon :)

Swindon Theatre Square
Bandstand

I was asked by the inSwindon BID team if I could help with renovating the tired looking Theatre Square Bandstand in the town centre together with an art piece on the bandstand ceiling.

The proposed plan was at short notice and was to be completed to coincide with the Queens Platinum Jubilee.

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As you can see, the bandstand was very tired and in a state of disrepair.  

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inSwindon BID put forward an idea of a starry night sky art piece to cover the interior ceiling to coincide with the new exterior projectors recently installed around the Wyvern Theatre. Swindon Borough Council also proposed a colour scheme of royal blue and gold to coincide with Queen Elizabeth being under the pavilion in 1971 for the opening of the Wyvern Theatre.

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Together with my friend Tomas, from Eco DC ltd, we sanded the complete framework first in preparation for the royal blue and gold feature legs before leaving Tomas to tackle the rest of the royal blue while I prepped and tackled the ceiling.

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Believe me when I say the wooden tongue and groove ceiling was not an easy task to prep and without an electricity supply, so all the grooves had to painted by hand with a small brush.

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After completing the supernova black base the next stage was to put in some galaxy impressions on each quarter of the ceiling before applying two sized stars across the entirety of the ceiling to finish. 

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We initially began work early on the 1st of May 2022, full on by the 2nd and yours truly was on star duty on the Friday morning to complete on schedule with 5 minutes to spare for a lovely cup of tea! I made it home in very good time to join the jubilee celebrations on Friday evening.

The plan is to use the bandstand for upcoming events but mostly for storytelling sessions for children via Swindon's central library.

I'd like to thank all the visitors that came along for a nosey, to help, the water, tea and doughnut supplies and the fantastic friendly inSwindon BID  team, thank you! 

Cotswold Wall Mural

A private commission to turn a plain surfaced wall panel into something more interesting,

while maintaining an overall blend into the existing property. The client requested a touch of humour too for a pleasant impact.

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I began by cleaning the wall surface and repairing any holes and cracks, followed by a fresh base coat of paint. Then onto replicating the window surround as the rest of the property's windows.

Funny to add that a gardener arrived later in the day and asked me, how the hell did that stone window get put in at such a quick turnaround, to which I placed my hand onto the painted window frame and said that it was flat and that it was painted. A good start :) 

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The next stage was the brick courses. Another tradesman came along that day and mentioned, well done mate, your brick courses are spot on!

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The final day was time for the touch of humour, an owl peeking out of a hole in the wall. A thorough clean up and check over, a cup of tea with the happy client before the removal of the scaffolding. 

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Bathroom Mural Renovation

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A clean, renovate and conserving of an existing bathroom mural, approximately 40+ years old. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find out who the original artist was but the clients requested it refreshed after 40 years of wear and tear and called me in to have a look.

There were scuffs and dinks, as expected, and area's of tired paint but the main delicate repair was to a fabulous macaw parrot. He was originally painted in watercolour, which amazed me that it had lasted that long, so I completely refreshed him and protected him with a matt archival varnish.

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After completion of the parrot, I methodically made my way around the whole bathroom, refreshing everything in my path until I got to the last side by the door. I discovered a faint pencil sketch of an ocean liner that had originally been forgotten or missed. After informing the clients, they requested that I paint and complete it if possible. They also asked if I could place my signature somewhere on the mural but as the mural wasn't mine I felt I shouldn't, but after the go ahead of the ship painting I thought it would be a good opportunity to name the ship after myself! Perfect :)

An interesting and rare indoors project, for a change, in a beautiful home and location, with the added bonus of being able to stay on location until completion :) Thank you!

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