Merewether Aquarium

Merewether beach Tunnel, April 2014

April 2011 Lucky Country Hotel

Let’s begin with a little background.

My first ever mural was commissioned by Newcastle council. It was so hot, the paint dried on my brush before it touched the wall.

June 2011 Newcastle Beach Tunnel

Mural number two. I painted a sandy path to the beach. I wanted it to feel airy and fresh, not what one expects when walking through a pedestrian tunnel.

Photowalls

I got the idea of photowalls after seeing people posing for pictures in the Newcastle Beach Tunnel. I wanted to paint a mural that was designed purely as a backdrop for interactive photos. I was offered two perfect walls at the Newcastle Museum and they loved the idea. Since painting the mural, the grass in front of the attractive couple wall has been replaced by concrete. It’s in use so often that the ground had become too muddy.

September 2013 Mayfield Pool

How I got the job

The original proposal I sent to the council as part of their tender process. About eight artists applied for the job.

Final Artwork

A grid was placed on the artwork and the wall panels were numbered for transfering the drawing to the wall.

Each wall is around 32m X 2.1m and split into 25 panels each side.

All the main elements were designed to fit within the panels.

The first section was started 3rd June 14 with the help of my assistant, Rob Connell.

Some parts of the tunnel used drawings I had made around Newcastle over the past five years.

Michael Bell 20th June 2014

Elements of the original 1998 mural by Michael Bell were incorporated into the Aquarium. Michael paid a visit to freshen up his sixteen year old paintings.

Photo www.martyntaylor.com

Reference and Inspiration

I used my own photographs and searched online to find inspiration. The Diving blocks were inspired by a photograph I saw in the Newcastle Herald.

The paint used is normal household paint mixed to match the colours from the design, many of them were sample pots.

The half finished aquarium, photographed from both ends

So much to do.

A selection from the colour chart. Shimmer Half was used more than any other colour.

In an early design, The Creature was going to be behind an emergency exit to protect his modesty.

The lights were incorporated whenever possible. Some were on permanently and painful to paint around.

John Earle 9th July 2014

John brought his easel along and spent two afternoons painting the view of the ladies pool that can be seen from the end of the tunnel.

Volunteers

Apart from Rob, who was paid, I had regular help from a team of volunteers.

Without their help I would have been painting for at least another month, or two...

Mark Richards 18th July 2014

The statue of mark Richards was based on a badly photoshopped picture of an MR statue from the Herald. I tried to make him look like an oscar.

The night before Mark was going to sign the statue, I realised that his crotch was painted too low, I had to fix it before he arrived.

Anti-graffiti

The finished mural has been painted with a gloss anti-graffiti coating to protect the paint from damage.

I don’t worry about graffiti too much, I leave it to Steve and Chris from the council.

The Entrance

I had always planned to make the entrance as impressive as possible. My intention was to transform the tunnel into a tourist destination. I wanted to create a sense of excitement about what it contains. It’s no longer just a route to the beach.

The tunnel entrance seen from Ridge Street

Before and after

These are the plans I used for enlarging the artwork onto the walls

After ten weeks in the tunnel

Photo www.martyntaylor.com

One last thing

I hadn’t planned to paint stars on the steps, but once the mural was completed, it seemed like the obvious thing to finish it off.