Runnymede Magna Carta Mural Day 1 and 2

Helen Brady on 29th April 2015

Day 1 and 2 at Bell Weir lock in Runnymede, painting commemorative murals for the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. Rain has unfortunately stopped play today, but as you’ll see from one of the photos below, the sun was glistening on the river at the start of the week. It has however been totally freezing, not helped by the fact that the wall is in shadow for most of the day. Back to wearing thermals!

I was really pleased to be joined by the students from East Berkshire college yesterday, who have designed the murals. I persuaded them to have a go at drawing part of the design on the wall, which they managed to do with a little bit of assistance and encouragement! Hopefully back on site tomorrow to carry on with the painting, and keeping fingers crossed that not too much damage has been caused by this mornings heavy rain…

Magna Carta Murals at Runnymede

Helen Brady on 22nd April 2015

22nd April 2015

I’m really excited to report that I’ve been asked by the Environment Agency to paint my second public mural along the River Thames, this time at Bell Weir Lock in Runnymede. This June sees the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta at Runnymede, and there are a whole host of celebrations planned. As part of this, local schools and colleges were asked to design 2 commemorative murals to be painted (by myself) on the walls of the lock keeper’s house at Bell Weir. The themes were ‘Magna Carta then’ and ‘Magna Carta today’. The winning designs have been selected and I am currently adapting them to go on the walls, hopefully starting next week! Having said that, after weeks of beautiful weather, the forecast is predicting rain from Monday…

Yesterday I met with the students, from East Berkshire college in Windsor, to speak to them about their designs, get a better idea of the inspiration for their work, and consult with them on any design changes I need to make in order to paint them as murals. I’m very much hoping that the girls will come and help me do some of the painting once the work gets going!

More updates here as this exciting project unfolds…