Have you tried painting with your knees?

Happy Friday!

This week felt rather fast and I mainly tried to physically recover from a wonderful mural project I took on last weekend at the SCRUM theatre cooperative. It was intense, it was challenging, it was brilliant.

The brief

SCRUM recently moved into this huge building in Hammersmith and were welcoming artists to brighten up their walls. They had a set colour palette (which turned out to be great, with high-quality paints from Community RePaint) and were keen on a nonfigurative artwork.

The idea

The room I picked from the list will be a co-working space for playwrights and other creators. It’s a big space with a sloped ceiling and a long 10-meter wall. The idea was simple: create an artwork on two perpendicular walls, using a mix of abstract composition and plant elements. But to make it more exciting I researched and picked plants that are conducive to creativity and support cognitive functions.

Sketches of abstract blobs and medicinal plants: ginkgo biloba, gotu kola and Tulsi holy basil

The process

I quickly realised I couldn’t hold a composition of this size in my head all at once. Instead of trying to sketch it, I started moving my body around: checking what curved lines I could create with my arms, what felt natural, how far I could reach, and what would a curve growing out of the floor be like. It probably looked more like yoga than painting at this stage.

I grabbed a brush and started repeating the movements leaving lines on the wall. I created the abstract blobs first and started adding plants later. One thing I knew I wanted to do immediately was paint a pair of eyes on the small window doors. It had to be done.

This frame simply needed the eyes!

I ended up painting using my whole body, not only arms and shoulders but knees and thighs as well. A full-body creative workout. I recorded the painting process as I went, and you can see the videos on Instagram: watch the first day here, and the second day here.

The mural is too big to fit in one picture!

This is the largest piece of art I have produced to date, and a big jump from the usual size of my drawings which are either A5 or A4. I had a brilliant time and felt sad when leaving the building on Sunday I realised I had to leave the artwork on the wall. I never had to do that before and part of me actually expected I would roll it up and stuff it in my backpack. I’ll come back now and then to hang out with it.

Thanks for reading!

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