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BBC Radio Leicester visit Rowlatts Hill
14.3.19
https://www.rowlatts-tmet.uk/bbc-radio-leicester-feature-march-19/
Rowlatts Hill Primary Academy, Balderstone Close, Leicester LE5 4ES
The Fulbridge Academy Sports Hall Project – Second Half
February ’18
Following my Half-Time sojourn with the ‘Simply The Best’ mural project at King’s Cliffe Endowed Primary School, I have returned to Fulbridge Academy to begin the Second Half of the Sports Hall mural. The First Half, at the smaller end, which I referred to in earlier blogs as ‘Invincible’, involved painting the portraits of a collection of sporting heroes. The emphasis for this larger end will be sporting activities, although one of the walls will have a theme of sporting personalities from Peterborough.
Since my last visit some alterations have been made to the hall and some design modifications requested. The large projection screen has been removed and replaced with two computer monitors and some additional names have been added to the list for the Peterborough wall. Also, the Looney Tune Land characters from the Warner Brothers film ‘Space Jam’, which were previously included to reflect the name of the room, are now not required. As a consequence three of my previous designs for the 4 walls needed to be updated.
New Designs for Main Hall:
Sporting Activities: Netball / Cricket / High Jump / Football / Swimming / Running / Javelin / Discus / Wheelchair athletics / Roller Blading / Hammer Throw / Archery / Long Jump / Tennis / Gymnastics / Field Hockey / Rugby / Basketball
Peterborough Wall Figures: Louis Smith Gymnastics / Walter Cornelius Strongman / David Bentley, Luke Steele Football / James Ferrara Ice Hockey / Geoff Capes Athletics / Paul Barber Field Hockey / Ajaz Akhtar Cricket / Brian Brinkley Swimming / James Fox Rowing
Peterborough Wall Logos: Peterborough Panthers Speedway / Peterborough United Football / Peterborough Phantoms Ice Hockey / City of Peterborough Hockey Club / Peterborough Town Cricket Club / Peterborough Lions RFC / Peterborough Rugby Union Football Club
As mentioned previously in my first ‘Invincible’ blog, it’s a big job, so I will not be presenting a detailed report, instead I will post an occasionally updated photo diary again – this one might take me a long time to complete. I just hope I have the ability to fulfil what I’ve set myself to achieve, as well as the stamina. Having said that, the cups of tea Asma delivers to me on a regular basis is definitely a terrific body booster!
The Story So Far:
26.2.18 Day 9
My mission, if I chose to accept it, was a mural, an invitation from Iain Erskine, Head of Fulbridge School, Peterborough. The theme – ‘Champions of Humanity’. The catch – that it would be painted in a corridor during a normal school day, with staff and children watching its progress as they went about their daily routine. It would be my first major project since ‘Black Sunday‘, and an opportunity to paint on a large scale again. I picked up the gauntlet and accepted the challenge.
My brief was to produce a painting comprised of inspirational people whose influence has extended beyond their years, and which has shaped the world we live in today. I was determined to design a composition which would become a bold feature within the school, a conversation piece and with an even mix of gender.
The design was always intended to be a starting point to stimulate discussion for other personalities who could have been identified for inclusion. My initial decision was that the composition would be limited to 12 people, however I easily compiled a ‘short’ list of 39 candidates. The elimination process was a troublesome dilemma. As my research progressed it became not so much a decision of who to include, but who to leave out. Nevertheless, with Iain’s approval I finally produced a composition containing 15 portraits:
Mother Teresa
Florence Nightingale
Mary Wollstonecraft
Frida Kahlo
Anne Frank
Marie Curie
Isaac Newton
William Wilberforce
Ludwig van Beethoven
Albert Einstein
Charles Darwin
Mohandas Gandhi
William Shakespeare
Leonardo da Vinci
Steve Jobs
I had already decided that the final image would be monochrome, allowing the image to achieve the ‘timeless’ appearance of a black & white photograph. However the main problem I faced with the design, with its collection of famous personalities gathered together, was to avoid the composition resembling a Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper’ album cover, or a Dutch Golden Age group portrait of militia companies or guild members. My solution was to produce a composition which took the appearance of a collage, as if it was a page from a scrapbook where images have been found and pasted together. Although there were variations in scale this was simply an aesthetic decision and not intended to denote importance or hierarchy.
For the record, the other 24 candidates I considered for inclusion were:
JMWTurner
Maria Callas
Galileo Galilei
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Nelson Mandela
Georges Méliès
Miles Davis
Michael Faraday
Clara Schumann
Hildegard of Bingen
Orville & Wilbur Wright
John Lennon
Mary Seacole
Helen Keller
Michael Jackson
Vincent van Gogh
Billie Holliday
Martin Luther King
Pablo Picasso
Edith Piaf
Muhammmed Ali
Alan Turing
Simon Weston
Stephen Hawking
Colin Slater - artist 