Colin Slater

‘Yesterday’s Gone’ Mural at The Clayton Rooms, Pavilion Drive, Oundle School

19/20 & 26/27 Nov 22

A new venue for a ‘Bigger Picture’ project and pretty much on my home patch too being only a couple of miles from home. Considering the 120 mile daily round trip to Leicester I had not so long ago to paint the Fosse Primary Academy Sports Hall, this commute felt like a breeze.

The location this time around was Oundle School, an independent day and boarding school situated in the market town of Oundle, Northamptonshire. More specifically I was working within an area of the school known as The Clayton Rooms, where students can visit to receive both physical and mental wellbeing support. The facility is for obvious reasons private and confidential, this project therefore required me to work outside the normal working hours of the building.

Being presented an opportunity of working within an environment associated with issues I have experienced myself made this project particularly poignant and special. Over the years I have encountered the Black Dog on many occasions, although for me a more accurate description would be a Black Cloud or Fog, so can empathise with anyone feeling they’ve reached a point when they need to ask for help. Issues young people have to deal with are many and various, and there are times they may feel very alone. The Clayton Rooms provision is a haven to speak in confidence with someone who is well qualified to offer practical advice, help allay fears, relieve problems and anxieties, and to enable students to turn a corner and find light at the end of a long dark tunnel.

My brief was to create an atmosphere of calm and welcome for any visitor pushing open The Clayton Rooms door, something contrary to entering yet another magnolia painted corridor. After finding the inner strength to actually seek mental health support, to walk into comforting and relaxed surroundings was an absolute must.

With regard to my own mental health experience, in my darkest days I found walking in the fresh air of the countryside or coast a life saver and my landscape paintings often act as a visual metaphor of my feelings. Compositional elements such as climatic conditions, vapour trails, cloud formations, fog & mist, rivers, bridges, gateways, stiles, fences, footpaths, trees, signposts, high/low viewpoints, the activity of figures & birds, for example, all having a symbolic purpose.

My paintings are personal, they reflect who I am like a mirror, so are also self portraits. Whether painting a landscape or seascape there is often an underlying and alternative narrative, although it wouldn’t necessarily be obvious to an onlooker. However, the many quickly scribbled haiku verses found in the pages of my notebook frequently reveal my inner thoughts.

My painting is me / A kind of biography / Written in pictures

For this project I decided to express my belief in a healing landscape, the compositions for the walls inspired by my ‘Between the Bridges’ exhibition at Chichele College, Higham Ferrers in 2002 when I presented my paintings and drawings chronologically as a virtual riverside walk along the banks of the River Nene at Oundle, a circuit which has played an important part in my recovery and well being. My idea was to recreate this theme so that while waiting for their appointment time, any prospective Clayton Rooms client would be surrounded by the peace and tranquility of a landscape that was not only familiar, but which could also be conveniently visited as it is located close to the everyday life of the school.

A chair placed at a turn in the corridor is the static point for visitors, and using this position I envisaged a composition for this enclosed space. Although topographical accuracy wasn’t important I did want features to be recognised as actual locations to generate a landscape ‘capriccio’ mixing fantasy and reality.

In my mind’s eye I imagined myself sitting in this chair beside the river looking toward the North Bridge, and if that were the case, the spire of St Peter’s would be to my left, the footbridge to Ashton Mill behind me. This footbridge would not only act a satisfactory motif for the angled wall at the turn in the corridor, it would also allow the river to flow along the walls back to the entrance to its left, and toward the adjoining hallway on the right. One must pass through this smaller space to enter another office and a kitchen, but on leaving these rooms this Ashton Mill footbridge feature would be seen from the opposite direction.

By combining images from my ‘Between the Bridges’ exhibition with elements which could be seen symbolically, the intention was to evoke a contemplative and introspective mood. A river of life as a never-ending flow, changing direction and passing out of sight to emerge safely at another point. A wide road bridge and a narrow footbridge, both allowing alternative routes to cross a barrier. A river bank lined with young, mature and aged trees, some time-ravaged, some sprouting new shoots, some flexible and pliant, some rigid and unyielding. St Peter’s Church spire, a reassuring landmark and the highest point in the county, acts as a compass to show the way home should one’s bearings be lost. A warm coloured sky might suggest a sunset and an end, but might also suggest a sunrise and a new beginning. The spontaneous sounds and improvised activity of birdlife, surviving as groups as well as individuals. The walls on entry suggest a dark and gloomy wood, but the composition eventually becomes a wide uninterrupted panorama with a clear open sky.

The title for this painting was inspired by the song ‘Don’t Stop’ by Christine McVie, included on Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ album, a song about leaving the past behind. Ever since I first heard it back in 1977 the lyrics have had meaning for me. In fact, along with Lennon’s ‘Starting Over’, it played on auto-repeat in my head while recovering from a serious health scare several years back. Only a couple of days after this painting was completed I learned the sad news that Christine McVie had died. Considering the motive of this particular project, to enhance an environment where the intention is to simply help a troubled young person find a brighter future, I feel her well chosen words couldn’t be more appropriate.

If you wake up and don’t want to smile

If it takes just a little while

Open your eyes and look at the day

You’ll see things in a different way

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow

Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here

It’ll be better than before

Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone

Why not think about times to come?

And not about the things that you’ve done

If your life was bad to you

Just think what tomorrow will do

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow

Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here

It’ll be better than before

Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone

Oundle School, New Street, Oundle, PE8 4GH