Colin Slater

‘Paulo’ Library Mural at Denfield Park Primary, Rushden

Jan – March 24

‘What a sweet mistress is this perspective!’ – Paolo Uccello

On 1st March last year I received a message from Angela Griffiths, Head of Denfield Park Primary, enquiring about painting murals on two walls in the school library, so this project came within a couple of days of completing the circle in exactly 12 months.

A couple of weeks after that first communication I visited the school to meet Angela and Alice her Deputy Head, to discuss ideas they envisaged for the space. Although the school is one self-contained building there are two distinct areas, one accommodates a nursery through to year 2 age group, the second houses year 3 to year 6 and is where the large open plan library is located.

The school also enjoys a large outdoor facility for both play and sport activities, with a collection of mature trees within the grounds too and a connection with the natural world is reflected through the names given to each of the classes – such as Oak, Horse Chestnut, Sycamore, Cedar, Ash, Maple, Beech, Elm, Otter, Badger, Fox, Mole.

Bearing this in mind Angela proposed that the library mural should maintain this link with the natural world, and asked if I would conjure the feeling of a forest or wood to generate a nature/wildlife theme with a palette of greens, browns, oranges and golds.

In terms of the books which might be incorporated, the list suggested was:

The Gruffalo

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt

Winnie the Pooh

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Danny the Champion of the World

Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone

Charlotte’s Web

The Wind in the Willows

The two walls of the library have the same dimensions however one gives the impression of being smaller than the other. This is largely due to wide glass double doors allowing exit to the hall, as well as the protruding upper part of the wall encasing an air venting system.

Production of ideas and development of designs is a process I always commit a considerable amount of attention to, and on this occasion it took much longer than usual. The time of our meeting and the weeks that followed unfortunately coincided with a particularly distracting series of events which caused me difficulties generating a solution. I was encountering similar problems with preparations for my Gt. Doddington Primary Entrance Lobby project at this time too. So much was happening around me, I just found it impossible to concentrate.

Eventually the fog lifted and for Denfield this was in part thanks to an early Renaissance master, Paolo Uccello. One of the world’s first art historians, Giorgio Vasari, stated in his biographical studies ‘The Lives Of The Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects’, that Uccello had an obsession with perspective and devoted much of his time attempting to solve problems associated with it.

My design for the larger wall was strongly influenced by his last painting, ‘The Hunt In The Forest‘, so it felt very appropriate to include ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ as its central motif. This ‘Stumble trip! Stumble trip! Stumble trip!’ element was framed by a huge Gruffalo and thanks to his hat, an equally large Harry Potter. Beyond these two gigantic figures I placed a collection of Winnie the Pooh characters to the left of one of the two doors, and to the right of the other Danny the Champion of the World, and his Dad.

The composition of the second wall is built upon an illustration of a peaceful and relaxing picnic beside a river bank which EH Shepard produced for The Wind in the Willows. Nevertheless the dominating component is its complete opposite, an interpretation of Harry Hargreaves’ drawing for the same story, Toad driving ‘a shiny new motor-car, of great size, painted a bright red (Toad’s favourite colour)’ in extremely wild and maniacal fashion. To the left, above the large glass double doors, a Very Hungry Caterpillar begins its journey toward a pupa and a beautiful butterfly, which reside beneath a wide tree canopy. To the right, between class window and door, Charlotte the spider sits within a web in which she’s spun the word ‘Terrific’, above Wilbur, the pig she befriended and whose life she was determined to save.

My initial concern was that as the walls had previously been light in colour, painting a depiction of a forest might generate a feeling of being closed in and the room become darker. However instead the walls have opened up and become a window on the world, with the viewer invited in. This is particularly the case with the forest wall where, rather than simply employing the one point perspective of Uccello’s painting, the vanishing point is determined by where the viewer is standing in the room. One could ‘investigate’ a track into the wood on the right hand side, as well as follow another in a different direction on the left hand side. While painting this wall, Robert Frost’s poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ constantly came to mind.

The spectre of wall furniture being an unwelcome intrusion is only to be expected with mural painting but with a little artistic invention a compromise can often be found. Air vents which previously were very visible have been partially concealed by tree foliage on one wall and ground cover on the other. A wide column of white plastic cable trunking has been transformed into a tree trunk and an electric switch enclosed within an imaginary bird box. The Wind in the Willows picnic scene was strategically placed so that a wall mounted fire alarm horn sounder could be camouflaged within the leaves of the willow tree. I can personally guarantee that this action has not impaired the function of the alarm in any way. When painting this object I had a two minute warning that the school fire alarm system was about to be tested, and had I not been told, the volume of the noise discharged from this object would have blown my ears off!!!!!

Naturally there’s pressure to handle working in a public space, it’s impossible not to hear the comments of those walking past and children are always very honest with their opinions of how well or how quickly they feel the painting is progressing. The design was produced within an A4 format and being conscious not to overcrowd the composition included only the Gruffalo character and the Mouse in response to that particular book. However as the painting stage developed much disappointment was regularly expressed that characters were missing. “But where’s the Fox/Owl/Snake?” (select as appropriate) became a much repeated daily comment. Although there was limited space available in my original A4 design fortunately there was sufficient room to include these figures within a 10′ high x 40′ long wall.

It’s fascinating being a fly-on-the-wall for these comments and conversations. There’s always an impatience for the painting to progress more quickly, “When will you be finished?” is one I wish I was paid £1 a time for, but to hear a 4 and a 5 year old announcing on a daily basis that the painting was ‘magnificent’ or a ‘masterpiece’ regularly made me smile, they seemed very large words to come from such a small person. Another amusing comment was called out as a child passed quickly toward the hall for his lunch. I heard him say “Good job, that looks so realistic!” and he was already through the door by the time I’d replied “Well thank you very much”. However only a couple of seconds later his head popped back through the door again and he said “You don’t have to thank me, I’m only saying the truth!” I also overheard a member of staff talking to a child as she walked behind me. The response when asked “Don’t you think it’s good what the artist has been doing on the wall?” was a reluctant “Yes”, followed quickly with “But he is using a ladder.”

This library project effectively began on 9th January when I introduced myself and the designs at a whole school assembly, and concluded after delivering a series of drawing workshops to all of the year groups.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at Denfield, the children and staff who have witnessed my daily progress have all made me very welcome. Many thanks to Angela & Alice, the staff of year 3 & year 6 who have had to put up with me working outside their rooms for the last few weeks and also to Katie for organising and accompanying me during the drawing workshops. In addition thanks also to Paul, the Facilities Manager, and Pauline, whose morning greeting and cups of tea certainly kept me going during some long working days.

However there was also another unexpected bonus. As a life long supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers it was a lovely surprise to meet Steve Bull’s cousin (another Angela) which most likely is as close as I’ll ever get to meeting the great man himself. Now that really was the cherry on the cake!

Denfield Park Primary School, Victoria Rd, Rushden NN10 0DG

Story Book Character references:

Winnie the Pooh (Author: AA Milne Illustrator: EH Shepard)

The Gruffalo (Author: Julia Donaldson Illustrator: Axel Scheffler)

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Author: Michael Rosen Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury

Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone (Author: JK Rowling Illustrator: Thomas Taylor)

Danny the Champion of the World (Author: Roald Dahl Illustrator: Quentin Blake)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Author & Illustrator: Eric Carle)

The Wind in the Willows (Author: Kenneth Grahame Illustrator: Toad Harry Hargreaves / Picnic EH Shepard)

Charlotte’s Web (Author: EB White Illustrator: Garth Williams)