Homecoming

I was asked how it feels to have my pigeon design painted as what will be the first shop-front facade, inner city mural with visibility being high on one of the most photographed streets in Derby.

*Slips out the back door and runs full pace towards the horizon*

Terrified to the point of busying myself with lots of other things (luckily there's no shortage of stuff to do) so I don't have to think too deeply about it for too long as it makes me curl my toes and tremble!

But if I put the vulnerability over there for a minute, I think bloody hell... When I designed the image, I was having fun, I was playing with colour, shapes, ideas and joy was an organising principle of the flow. I had my 8 year old next to me! I wanted to bring movement to the old stories of Derby working class history, I wanted to give a fluttering snapshot splash of intense life to what could be understood as the opposite of that... A 'conservation' area! Shake it up a bit.

I guess, when we first heard that we'd won the funding bid it was a fuzzy dream and still is because the whole project has felt like a deep learning curve and I'm growing rapidly through it.

But there's also the unfinished itch of asking myself if I've said everything I wanted to say through the image. No. Absolutely not! However, part of the discipline is knowing where to pause even when I feel like I'm only just starting to find my voice as an artist.

Every piece of art is a deeply human expression of discovery of the world through emotion, nostalgia, senses, waking what we already dormantly know - a homecoming.

But I'm in community every step of the way... So, shout-outs...

The piece couldn't be left in more competent and professional hands, Leigh Irvine aka Raze Murals is a mural/graf legend and collaborating with him has been a dream. Attention to detail, sensitivity to the building, eye for composition and picking out colours - not to mention practical problem solving... Really cannot recommend Leigh enough, he just knows what he's doing and will communicate extremely well about the process so we all feel confident about the project at every stage of evolution.

Simon Jones project managing skills with organisational superpowers, dedication to everyone involved with patience and resilience to the curve balls and challenges, creative problem solving and genuine love for the art being created - another excellent human to have the honour of working with. Supportive and encouraging every step of the way. Thank you

Also huge thanks to the volunteers who have shown up to give us a hand with prepping for this monumental task! We are lucky to know you and any community would be blessed to have you

Party time on Friday 4th!! 🩷