Commissioned by Sustrans as part of a project to improve a local walking and cycling route known as the Black Path, these murals by Adele Catchpole, Ella Deacy and Junior Durrani were inspired by conversations with the 2nd Normanby Scouts, whose Scout Hut is nearby. I spoke to all involved via email and Instagram to learn more.
Adele Catchpole and Ella Deacy working on the murals
Danny Morris, Senior Project Manager at Sustrans, explained what inspired the murals:
“From talking to local people, it was clear that the route was important to the community. Some passers-by talked about how they remembered the path when it was a railway line before it closed in 1966, others talked about the route as a greenspace and enjoyed the trees and plants, while others said they simply enjoyed walking or cycling along it. I thought that it would be nice to use those conversations as inspiration for the artworks and it was at that point I contacted Junior, Ella and Adele.“
They chatted to the scouts about what the path meant to them, and the groups even did some drawings for the artists to use as inspiration.
Danny highlighted the community appeal of the works, noting that, “It was great being there while they painted as so many people, both adults and children, stopped to talk about and compliment their work.”
Artworks by Ella Deacy
Ella Deacy is a artist with a wide range of practice. With a background in everything from film-making to horticulture, Deacy’s art spans live visuals, foraging, planting, drawing and making:
“My murals were a chance to share my foraging and herbalism knowledge through colourful, bright energetic painting. I wanted recognisable plants, as that’s a huge part of the process when foraging. I love how much mine Adele and Junior’s works have brightened up the place!
I enjoyed taking the Teesville scouts on a short walk down the lines to get them thinking about the edible plants, weeds and fruits that grow on their doorstop. After working in South Bank within the community in a horticulture based role it was great to do my first mural there.”
Artworks by Junior Durrani
Junior Durrani (who also took part in the Black Path Secret Gallery) shared his thoughts about the murals:
A recurring theme from the conversations we had with the scouts was the observations of normal, everyday life: the number of cyclists and dog walkers that use the route through the bridge. My approach was simply to visit the site, be present in my surroundings and see if what I saw aligned with what they saw. I enjoyed taking some photographs, paying particular attention to where this vast, red-bricked structure contrasted with the flora and fauna. I remember crouching down a few metres away from the opening of the bridge to try and frame the nature in the foreground when a cyclist went by instantly as if on purpose. A good sign! I remember when I met Danny and Ella under the bridge initially to discuss the proposed mural project: a man and his dog walked by, stopped and chatted with us about what was happening. Naturally, it felt appropriate to draw inspiration from these moments.
I printed out a couple of the photos I managed to capture on those visits a few days before we were set to go and paint and I decided on that first image of the cyclist heading into the tunnel because it just felt right and to me perfectly captured what I had seen. For the other mural, I really loved one photo I had taken where the trees seemed to arch around and introduce the opening of the tunnel. I hadn’t managed to photograph any dog walkers on my visits but I have thousands of photos of my own dog I could draw reference from! So I printed one out from a recent dog walk where it’s the two of us walking along, cut out the figures and then pritt-sticked them into the middle of the tunnel for my next chosen reference photo. For me, I prefer to figure out how those references will become a painting on the day of execution so I didn’t carry out any preliminary sketches for this project.
Artworks by Adele Catchpole
Adele Catchpole‘s works highlighted local landscapes and steam railways, as well as a more environmentally-minded mode of transport:
“I got involved with this project through Junior Durrani. I had recently completed two other pieces of mural artwork, one for the Future Regeneration of Grangetown project and one for Ground Works UK at one of their community centres. Junior asked if I’d be interested in joining him and Ella in the co-creation of this project. After some conversations between us and Danny, the lead on the project from Sustrans, we met up on site to begin the work.
I had a general plan for my panels, I wanted to create two pieces of artwork in response to the brief as well as the inspiration from the scouts. Lots of the children’s response was that they wanted to celebrate our local area, encourage people to travel in a more environmentally friendly way where possible, and something to represent that the South Bank underpass had previously been used as a coal train track.
With these in mind I planned to paint a depiction of Roseberry Topping in a block colour / abstract style with a coal train emerging from the hillside. For my other panel, I wanted to take the opportunity to create something in writing, as this is something I am developing in my own freelance mural work as well as my wider artistic practice. I needed to come up with a quote that would translate well in writing and be snappy enough for passers by to understand. After some research, a quote cropped up a few times – ‘You are only ever one good bike ride away from a good mood’ – I paraphrased this quote, which I don’t believe has one source and is a common phrase amongst cycling and mental health charities. I wanted this panel to be bold, so chose a pink and red colour palette, with added pops of green and white to tie in with my Roseberry Topping panel, as well as sit in cohesion with Junior and Ella’s panels.
I loved working on this project and the positive responses we received from passers by were overwhelming, to me, some of the chats we all had were an indication that this type of artwork resonates with the public and serves a deeper purpose than simply brightening the place up“.
North East Statues 