Hand-painted mural

This greengrocer is doing wonderful things for vegetables – part gourmet health food café, part fruit-and-veggie shop, the owners source all of their produce as locally as possible, and spray-free or organic too. This means that local farmers get paid well for the fruits of their labour, and customers get super fresh produce that doesn't cost the Earth in terms of fossil fuels consumed for transportation. 

To celebrate, I was commissioned to hand paint botanical-style vegetables on their walls, a pumpkin and shovel, and a portrait of the owners’ beloved carp pond on the floor below the stairwell.

Hand-painted mural

I had the good fortune to be commissioned to paint three murals for children at the fancy new Byron Community Hospital. This has been a life-long dream of mine, and I feel super grateful for the opportunity. The staff there were wonderful too, and the freshly painted blank walls in nice neutral tones were like wonderfully giant blank canvases! 

This third mural is in the paediatric gym: a place where little ones go to bend and stretch and heal broken bones. 

My hope is that the artwork might inspire and distract children a little from any fear or pain they may be experiencing in a potentially frightening hospital environment.

Emergency Reception

This is the first of three murals I was commissioned to paint for the brand new Byron Community Hospital. This one is in the Emergency Department waiting area.

The idea was to paint something both colourful and stimulating for the children playing here, but also soothing and calming for those waiting anxiously in Emergency to see a doctor or their loved ones.  

Healing medicinal plants such as Aloe Vera, Calendula and Holy Basil meet with the magic of gum trees and fantastical birds. 

Hand-painted mural

The second of three murals I was commissioned to paint at the wonderful new Byron Community Hospital. This one is on a large wall in the children's play area in the main reception (hence the safety glass fence). These painted characters grew out of looking back at my found object sculptures.

There's rusty Mister Lockwood, who, looking like he's just stepped out of some saloon in a one-horse town, is a hopeless romantic, offering a rose to his beloved.

Chamomilla has a crown full of chamomile flowers – a plant treasured for its healing properties such as reducing headaches, easing bellyache and calming the nerves... pretty handy to combat the nerves of hospital visits.

Galaxy Eyes, with his vision full of stars, has just flown down from heaven to offer flowers to patients and dance a little cheery jig.

And Miss Aloe Vera is ready to heal and soothe skin from the ravages of sunburn from falling asleep for too long on Byron's beautiful beaches nearby. 

Hand-painted mural

I'm so pleased to have been given the opportunity to create artwork designed especially to cheer up sick munchkins in the new Lismore Base Hospital.

The commission to paint a jungle theme in room 13 on the children’s ward was perfect as Lismore is surrounded by stunning rainforest remnants of 'The Big Scrub'.

Red-eyed frogs, Rose-Crowned Fruit Doves, butterflies, a possum and a Spotted Quoll play amongst the soothing green foliage and freshwater pond.

Hand-painted mural

The brief for the mural in room 10 on the children's ward was to paint a small, vignette-style image, using somewhat muted colours. 

Considering that children are drawn to bright colours, I included some small splashes of reds and yellows and a rainbow to inspire hope and upliftment, whilst featuring large areas of blue and turquoise for soothing and relaxation. I feel that the careful choice of colour can be an effective aid to healing.

This mural project landed smack-bang in the middle of a month of delightfully sunny North Coast winter days, during which I saw many migrating whales strutting their stuff in spectacular breaches and fountain-like water spouts along the beaches of nearby Byron Bay.

After breeding in the warm waters of the Far North, you can often see mother and baby whales heading back down south together. I chose to include this symbology to reassure frightened young patients that they are not alone.

Hand-painted mural

Beloved by the community, Santos Organics commissioned me to snazzy up their café garden in order to create a more inviting eating and play area.

Digitally designed mural

Lane Cove Council commissioned a site-specific mural design to be digitally printed and installed across a 180-metre long wall. 

My design was inspired by research into the history of Lane Cove – an area rich in natural beauty… green bushland rolling down to glittering blue coves. I wanted to reflect some of this bountiful vibrancy in my work, imparting a sense of joy and playfulness as viewers stroll by.

The title for this piece, Song of a Little Bird That Fell in Love with a Whale, is a lyric from the hauntingly beautiful Tom Waits song Fish & Bird. In essence, the song is about loving one another, even if we each live in different worlds that we may not quite understand.

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TESTIMONIAL

‘I had the absolute delight of working with Rachel on the recent Rosenthal Project on behalf of Lane Cove Council. From the get go, Rachel showed incredible diligence and passion for the project. When it came to submission time, Rachel wowed us with her creativity and incredible idea. Rachel supported her submission with depth of detail as to how she would execute on all the deliverables, not just the finished art piece, which made it a really easy decision for Lane Cove Council to say yes! She delivered them a piece that they were absolutely thrilled with. 

Rachel also facilitated three children’s workshops to enable the local community to have an opportunity to create individual artworks to sit with her master design. Each workshop was not only professionally facilitated by Rachel, she made them fun! The kids loved participating and through this collaboration, enjoyed a fantastic experience and a chance to put their stamp into the local community.

I would love to work with Rachel again and highly recommend her to anyone wanting a true artist, and a true professional who can be left unguided to deliver on your vision!’

– Andie Tickner
Project Director, Fostered Arts Agency
22 September, 2017