MILL STRAND MURAL
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School Mural
My 33 feet long mural for Mill Strand Integrated Primary School which I painted in March 2014. The brief was to include as many local scenes as possible. A six year old pupil is here to give you an idea of the scale. This was painted using household emulsion paint with the detail picked out with acrylics. I have tried to make this a believable location although the lifeboat looks dangerously close to the shore!
Mural detail left

Here is a closer look at the left side of the painting.

Included is : -

Dunluce Castle
Mussenden Temple in distance.
Rock Pool with limpets and crab emerging
Seaweed (The sort you can pop)
Fulmar seagull
Yacht with red sails (a reference to the song)

Note seagull droppings on the main rock for authenticity.

Mural detail middle

Here is the middle section: -

The Skerries (Islands)
Harbour
Portrush Lifeboat (Severn Class)
Beach
Whiterocks arch
Starfish
Donegal Hills in the background

Footprints. The children enjoy making up their own stories about this painting.

And the flag on the sandcastle? A reference to the historic events on the TV news that nightly filled our screens whilst I was painting this mural.

Bit heavy on the jpeg compression, sorry about that.

Mural right detail

And finally the right section which depicts the Giant's Causeway.

Note the sea pinks just behind the little girl's head.

The lichen I applied using a broken sponge dipped in three colours and then dabbed on.

When I am painting the Causeway on flats or canvas, (And I am often asked to paint the Causeway) I lay the material on the floor then spatter paint drops all over it to give the texture of stone. But you can't do that on a wall.

 
Brian talking to Nursery children Towards the end of painting, the Nursery Class (four year olds) came to watch me work.
Nursery class mural Then, I am told, "inspired" they trooped back to their classroom where they made their own large version.
Brian and RNLI crew man

The mural was used as a back drop for the school's play about litter on the shore. I was invited, and, along with parents and friends, thoroughly enjoyed their performance. (Well done P6) As I had painted the lifeboat, members of the RNLI were also invited and this photo shows myself and a member of the crew ,Mark Mitchell.

Mark is Deputy 2nd Coxswain of that Portrush Lifeboat and has been on the crew for 26 years.

Photo by Deirdre Doherty

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