Artwork > Community

Detail shots from the Ogilvie School Campus lobby mural.

The real challenge for me in this project was to forge an image that was coherent and legible and of corse make sure the kids had fun. I had over a 100 children of various painting abilities, all painting frenetically for two days.
In my experience one class, or even one child, with a big brush can easily obliterate a drawn image in no time at all.

My solution was to cut a clean layered jigsaw of the mural at the start. That meant that the kids joyful expression of paint enhanced the mural, and didn’t swamp the image.

I think the result is a really nuanced mural with huge layers of depth.
The perfect frame for all the energy and enthusiasm of the children.
Success was predestined from the start and they 100% own this space, there is nothing artificial about it.
And for me that’s the main thing 😊 #projects #community #treeoflife #schoolmuralproject ...

The Ogilvie School Campus mural now up in their lobby, hung it today.

Delighted with how it’s worked out.
Really sunny and optimistic. Bringing a spot of joy to the corridor.

Well done to all the pupils. The whole school had a brush with this one!
Half day on a Friday was a perfect opportunity to sneak in and hang it undisturbed. There is going to be a wave of excitement in the building when they come back next week! #tree #treeoflife #community #nature #chrisrutterford #artwork #flowers #schoolmural ...

Thanks so much to @OgilvieSchoolCampus for having me over the last two days! The children were Amazing!!
I hugely appreciate Gillian Lloyd for arranging the residency, and helping me make the mural in the school. You are a legend!!
Can’t wait to hang the mural next Friday. In the meantime ourkitchen worktop is chock full of drying flowers and bees. I’d say a vast improvement and 100% @lubilykan style too ! #community #tree #childrensmural ...

Really excited to be working with @Ogilvie school campus special school over the next few days, producing a mural for their reception lobby.

The challenge for me on this one will be that the mural is quite modest, only 2.8m x 2m, and I’ll be working with around 100 children of all ages over the two days onsite.
My solution was to spend some time on this mural cutting a really layered jigsaw with lots of fun detail to paint.
I think it’s going to end up being a really nuanced painting with loads of depth.

I actually really like the way this canvas looks before it’s painted. Like it’s made of lace.
Can’t wait to see what we come up with during the residency! #community #tree #collage #projects ...

Back in the Braidburn park today.
Funny story-
Not long after launch last weekend a local youth intervened and added a face on the sun at the back of the shed. No other damage - I wouldn’t usually comment but this was clearly the work of an art critic, not a vandal.
Tbh I had to agree… the right thing in the right place.
So this week in the studio I’ve made a permanent face for the sun.
It adds a focal point at the back and increases the joy, plus a natural balance for the feature owl on the front.
Happy days!!
🌞🌞🌞#projects #community#sun #sunset ...

The Nature mural I have created for Braidburn Valley Park's Friends with the advanced higher pupils from Firrhill High School is now complete!

Some of the artists came down yesterday to see the finished article.
Seen here with their own animals., the detail on the mural is brilliant.
I designed it to have impact from a distance but layers of joy up close.

Delighted how well this is being received by visitors , it is already becoming a joyful focal point for the park.
I love it that little kids and their parents are being irresistibly drawn up the hill for a closer look. Not to mention dog walkers and all!

The owl at the front looks like a stage now.
Maybe it’s time to get some musicians involved 😊 #community #artwork #animals #scottishmurals #firrhillhighschool ...

Over the course leading The Colinton Tunnel project it has been an absolute joy and privilege to meet both, Pat Banks and June Scott.

These two strong, passionate ladies have been rocks of support throughout the project, wives to Eddie & Mike, the key players in The Colinton Tunnel Charity.

Their feature portraits went up in the tunnel today.
Pat is riding a mighty Griffin steed and has somehow managed to overtake the magic train… despite RLS assuring us that was NOT possible.
June has joined the coven of larger witches at the throat of the tunnel.

Throughout the project they both stood beside and behind their men, rocks of support - keeping the faith while the boys played down their tunnel.
Without them we would never have got started, never mind finished.

They joined our host of witches in the tunnel today.
If you visit this weekend please doff your hats to them. #tunnel #colintontunnel #community #witchesofinstagram #griffin #magictrain ...

A week ago today…the last day of the residency.
I cut out more animals for the team and we concentrated on getting as much done as humanly
possible while we still had our mural HQ
Some of the gang built textures up with stencils and spray outside, the majority where consolidating the painting and painting the small animals.

Then the whole gang tidied the workshops and set the mural up outside in the car park.
The first time we had seen it all together and it really did look fab.

The team have taken small unfinished boards away and I’ll come back to collect them in January when they are done.
The plan is to get this varnished and on the wall in the spring.
Maya posing with me here painted the owls face and Sean designed the fox section.
The whole team were legends though.
Thanks to Firrhill for persisting with the project in what are trying times and especially to Tracy and Alex the art teachers for helping make this happen.
A great end to the year! #firrhillhighschool #chrisrutterford #braidburnvalleypark #community #project ...

This time last week…
My artists did a tremendous job of establishing the world on day one…. Now it was time to start populating it.

Overnight I produced a large scale heron, a brace of foxes, some otters, a rabbit, and a squirrel as well as a host for the birds, frogs and beasties for my artists to paint between them. Realistically my Artist license for using my power tools in my back garden runs out a little after 930, my long suffering neighbours may have a sense of humour failure after that.
That meant an early start to jigsaw the last of the creatures at the school before the kids arrived.

The team had very much been focused on collective output on Day one and building up a head of speed. What a massive treat for me to see their creatures springing to life. Some beautiful work produced, the heron and foxes arrived in the blink of an eye and I could see the otters were going to be fabulous.
It is tiring painting for a full day and keeping communicating, so easy to start pushing paint about aimlessly.They did an amazing job
When the pupils left at the end of the day (and there was less bodies in the way) I assembled all four sections of the mural for the first time.

Delighted with the way it was going, all four flanks of the building will be a huge asset to the park and, when hung, the building is going to become an instant landmark and focal point for visitors.

Our feature owl In particular has a beautiful vibe.
The stillness and focus in the head painted by Maya framed by the more impressionist wings and background painted by the rest of team gives it a beautiful feel.
One of the great joys for me in these projects is That I know roughly how it will look, but the reality of the end product always surprises.
I’m make space for my artists to perform, throw down the gauntlet with a challenging task and get their heads in the right space.
My experience is that that they always rise to the challenge.

With so much focused talent in the room this project was a particular joy.

Roll on day three! #community #projects #wildlife #chrisrutterford ...

This time last week.
Work commenced on the Braidburn Park Mural with the sixth year pupils at Firrhill High school. The residency was scheduled for three days.

The design was laid out and explained, all their contributions to the overall design had been taken into account, but in particular a lad called Sean did a brilliant job, so his design featuring foxes and trees took up a whole flank of the building.
When the jigsaw is nearly twenty meters long it’s all very confusing so I had to keep shuffling the murals so that my artists knew what they were painting. The build was spread over two rooms separated by a floor so Tracy the head of art assured us we had done our 10000 steps by 1230.
Energy, perseverance and faith meant the swamp of coloured mud soon started to gather focus and clarity. An excellent start. #community #firrhillhighschool #chrisrutterford #scottishmurals ...

Latest updates from the Reading fc crowd mural - this section is getting close to complete ! #crowds #artwork #portraits #readingfc #projects #community ...

@lubilykan and I joined the @readingfc150yrsfanmural mural up yesterday to see progress so far. Looking really spectacular already.
I love the jazzy blue and white stripes
The final crowd will be considerably bigger than this ... always a treat to see the whole canvas though.#readingfc #crowds #football #community ...