The Metabolic Bone Centre (Young Persons Waiting Room) - Northern General Hospital

Another commission with the Stars In Stripes to paint a mural on some walls. This time was for the new young persons waiting room at the metabolic bone centre at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. This was a really big job as we had a relatively small room but abnormally high ceilings. It was a pretty hardcore day, 10 - 5, continuously painting without any of us eating (except a small packet of Haribo). *Lesson learned - take a pack lunch!*

The theme we discussed for this project was to do "The Seven Hills of Sheffield" with each hill being a different style of illustration. It worked very well and we created a really fantastic piece which was thoroughly well received by the staff at the centre, which made the hunger worth the while

Ten foot of ceiling meant I was riding a ladder all day (good thing I don't have a fear of heights!) The clouds made an appearance again and framed the more important and focussed illustrations of the hills. I left the colour off these because i t would have detracted away from the hills, however i still wanted them to be a visual in their own right as the paper aeroplane had a colossal journey over to the other side of the room where it eventually landed in a hand drawn waste paper basket. It's main aim was to take your eye on a journey across the room and it was very effective.

My hill of sheffield consisted of tower blocks made from milk cartons. This was going along the obvious (or so i thought) idea of milk/calcium being good for the bones. Yet there were a couple of nurses that did question why I had drawn Milk cartons. I then began to think it wasn't so obvious, but they did laugh at themselves for not getting the idea straight away. So it was fine. I hope. I still really like the imagery i produced, but I enjoyed even more the real collaboration we had going on. It was a really good vibe that monday and everyone was eager to chip in with ideas or jump on a part that they felt needed something without worrying whether anyone had some preplanned or whatever, because we're all beginning to really trust each other and understand each others ideas. I'm really enjoying being a part of this drawing collective and I am hoping for big things to come along.

The participating artists were Sarah Abbott, Hailey Evenett, Jane Faram, George Law, Louise Wheeler and Myself. Enjoy! x