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Thank You For The Music………Encore!

September 20, 2022 in Drawing, Fulbridge Cavern Mural, Inspirations, Mural, Music, Painting | Tags: Abba, Drawing, Fulbridge School, Mural, Music, Painting, Portrait | 1 comment

The Fulbridge Academy Music Room Project – The Cavern……….

Sept ’22

‘Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing. Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing
Who can live without it? I ask in all honesty. What would life be?
Without a song or a dance, what are we? So I say thank you for the music. For giving it to me’.

(Thank You For The Music – Goran Bror Benny Andersson / Bjorn Kristian Ulvaeus)

Another trip down Memory Lane. The third of my four projects working at Fulbridge Academy again took me back to the room referred to as The Cavern, which I painted in 2016.

As a wall mounted visual display unit had been moved to be located on top of the classroom white board, a space had appeared which offered the opportunity to add more figures to the collection of musical personalities I’d painted previously. Principal Ben Erskine had taken me on a ‘walkabout’ around the school to discuss the four projects when I visited in July, and when we reached The Cavern we had a conversation about whether one, two or even three figures might fit comfortably in the area that would be revealed.

Not only that, we also discussed who might be placed on the short list for consideration taking into account the individuals and genres already represented. In order for the update to appear as a seamless addition I suggested that two figures, a main and a supporting character, might sit comfortably within this space that had been opened up.

Although musical theatre was not represented within the room my first thought was to include a film composer. I had drawn Andrew Lloyd Webber on the wall back in 2016, but after reading a controversial news article concerning him one evening after returning home from work I then washed him off the following morning. For the supporting character I therefore put forward American composer and conductor Bernard Herrmann, who had composed the scores for many films across a broad range of styles through his collaborations with directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut, Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese.

Coincidentally Ben’s thoughts were along similar lines, his suggestion being John Williams, also a composer for film and who actually was the better option. John Williams’ work features in so many critically acclaimed and popular movies from the modern era that his CV is without comparison. The Star Wars saga, Jaws, Close Encounters, Superman, E.T., Home Alone 1 & 2, the Indiana Jones films, the first two Jurassic Parks, Schindler’s List, three of the Harry Potter series to name but a few……….the list just goes on and on. Basically, most of us are very aware of the work of John Williams even though we may not know what he looks like.

Ben already had a clear idea for the main figure. He asked for Ed Sheeran. All the personalities included in The Cavern have a back story, either because of their association with their musical genre or through their influence on social history. Most are therefore unknown first hand by children of Primary School age which prompted the late inclusion of Adele back in 2016. Right now Ed Sheeran is not only very popular, he’s a household name. He also has an interesting personal story outside of his music career, and his childhood experience could be one which children can relate to.

So, just like a good album that has been re-mastered and re-released with the addition of a couple of new bonus tracks, The Cavern mural has been revisited and updated. Occasional chips, blemishes, marks and scratches have been repaired and new electric cable trunking re-painted. Despite the mural being six years old the room is still greeted with surprise when the door is opened and it looks pretty much the same as it did when I’d finished the last time around. Nevertheless, it’s different, and hopefully, as Eric might say, ‘You can’t see the join’.

Fulbridge Academy, Keeton Rd, Peterborough PE1 3JQ

Come Together………….4

August 19, 2022 in Fulbridge Sistine Chapel Mural, Mural, Painting | Tags: Fulbridge School, Mural, Painting, Peterborough, YouTube | 1 comment

The Fulbridge Academy Sistine Chapel Project – The Sequel Movie……..the very end

Aug ’22

Then, 7 years later, I returned to the Fulbridge ‘Sistine Chapel’ project. It was good to see it again after such a long break, it was like meeting up with an old friend. Despite being located in a busy ‘corridor’, the walls showed no damage of any significance. However there were tell-tale signs of where furniture had been placed and a few drawn marks which were likely to have been more accidental than intentional. Some parts had become ‘grubby’ though, identifying where furniture had been placed and children had leaned, and there were occasional black kick marks above the skirting, but considering how much time had passed since completion I thought the painting had been looked after very well.

I’d been asked to repair any chips and scratches as there was a plan for the walls to be protected with plastic sheets before the new term started, so the full length of the painting was given a good scrub, the areas with damage were repaired and where blemishes couldn’t be removed I painted anew. The possibility of finding an exact match for colours after 7 years was impossible but I think I overcame this problem successfully with an improvised conservation technique. I painted over the lower portion introducing the new colours into the existing painted areas and extended the four compositions on each wall so that they gradually merged into each other.

So, as the overall appearance remains the same, why bother with a new movie? Well, the soundtrack of my previous version is now mute as, after being online for about a year, I received notice of a copyright claim for having used ‘Come Together’ by The Beatles. It seemed a very appropriate choice at the time. As I mentioned in my ‘Come Together……….2’ blog, after having visited the site under construction and witnessed several stages of its development into a finished building, conceived 8 designs with which I eventually felt satisfied and then spent 3 months painting to bring that vision from my mind’s eye for the separate ‘Studios’ to a conclusion, I felt the whole project from bowling green to building to site-specific mural had all ‘Come Together’ very nicely.

Anyway, there are several inventive names for the different rooms at Fulbridge High inspired by song titles. The reception is referred to as ‘Hello’ (Lionel Ritchie) and there are others such as ‘Imagine’ (John Lennon), ‘Talk’ (Coldplay) and ‘Wonderwall’ (Oasis). This large and long ‘corridor’ is known as Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’………..

Fulbridge Academy, Keeton Rd, Peterborough PE1 3JQ

Play The Game 5

August 18, 2022 in Fulbridge Sports Hall Mural - Second Half, Mural, Painting | Tags: Drawing, Fulbridge School, Mural, Painting, Sport | 1 comment

The Fulbridge Academy Sports Hall Project – Second Half

Aug ’22

Like stepping from a time capsule I recently returned to Fulbridge Academy four years after completing the mammoth Sports Hall project. As I’d previously described the mural in terms of being ‘First Half’, ‘Second Half’ & ‘Third Half’, probably I should refer to this latest edition simply as ‘Extra Time’.

The Iain Erskine Sports Hall:

11.6.18

Since my last visit there had been a change to the appearance of the room, there was a new entrance to the PE staff office so the hurdler figure had been moved and a climbing wall added. Therefore my brief for this visit was to add a new climbing figure and extend the figures that had been edited due to their previous location above an arch. Also I needed to repair damage caused on the wheelchair and skater athletes due to the removal of a basketball net, as well as try to eliminate scratches on the archery figure.

The time taken to complete this project makes it my most extended ever as I received my original invitation from PE Lead Tom Erskine on 16.6.20, and my Photoshop design had been loitering in my ‘To Do’ list for the last couple of years. However the world’s been turned upside down since then and there are several other reasons why I’ve had to delay it so long. Be that as it may, I’m so pleased I’ve been able to finish it. Following my portrait of athlete (and former Principal) Iain Erskine it gave me the opportunity to paint another friend on the wall. The climbing figure is actually based upon a photograph of Andi Kroiss, my intrepid, adventurous chum from Bischofsmais in Bavaria.

A tricky job considering it felt like I was working in a sauna, but 5 very hot days later, job done!

The Iain Erskine Sports Hall:

8.8.22