Riverside Park Newbridge

I was commissioned by Caerphilly Council and the Newbridge Partnership Committee to paint a series of murals under the A472 in Newbridge. The initial commission was to work with local community groups and schools to generate ideas for the scheme. Everyone was keep to pursue the idea of using trompe l’oeil (fool the eye) illusions to transform the pillars and the Partnership Committee was keen for the designs to reflect the local wildlife.

To create the illusion of having the pillars as windows or portals through which you could see the scenes we had to fill all the grooves in the pillars with concrete. We had to do all the filling by hand with a heavy sand and cement mortar. (My back is still a mess now because of all the lifting!!). Once the areas to be painted were filled we were able to paint. The pillars are about 10 metres high and we spent our days going up and down in the MEWPs painting. The scenes were primed and painted in masonry paint and then details were added using spray paint.