It’s always a delight to see our paints used for more unusual projects, from community events to artistic pieces. Last year we proudly sponsored a range of projects including Human Nature’s ENDANGERED 13 live art event, and a children’s rainbow den-making project based at the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail, to name just two.
This winter, artist and illustrator Florence Jackson was commissioned to create a huge winter themed mural for the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Although Florence works primarily in traditional media such as gouache, watercolour and printmaking, we were thrilled that she chose the Ecopro range of BS4800 colours for this super-scale project.
When asked to design the ‘Winter Mural’ for the Wales Millennium Centre, Florence wanted to create a piece that was reminiscent of tales from different cultures, drawing inspiration from stories such as Babushka, Diwali and The Three Wise Men. Many of these stories contain pilgrimages towards light, love and shelter and the coming together of people from near and far to celebrate the joys of life.
Florence says, ‘my work is informed by Eastern mythology and philosophy but aims to create ambiguous narratives that can be universally relatable.’
The mural measures a huge 5m x 8m, but still contains lots of intricate, illustrative details:
Through her experience working at Earthborn stockist Celtic Sustainables, Florence was familiar with our Ecopro Emulsion paints and knew she wanted to use colours from the extensive BS4800 range for the piece. She explained, ‘The Ecopro Matt Emulsion paints worked really well and I was able to mix lots of vibrant colours using just White, Black, Cosmos, Saffron and Poppy.’ She went on to say ‘without Celtic Sustainables I wouldn’t have discovered your lovely paint!’
It’s obvious the planning and work that went into creating such a massive piece of artwork. She says the project ‘was great fun and also very scary working on such a large scale at such a great height!’ We particularly love that Florence’s talent and quirky style shines through in this vibrant painting.
Watch how Florence created this stunning mural: