“A wall is a very big weapon. It’s one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with.” — Banksy
It was a typical English summer morning: gloomy skies, endless drizzle, and my usual early-morning trudge up the main street of Bristol’s city centre to the dental office where I worked. Then I noticed a couple of people excitedly pointing towards the upper level of a building across the street.
And there it was: the latest masterpiece from local hero and street artist Banksy. Painted high on the wall of a local family planning clinic was the image of a window, with a naked man hanging out of it, apparently caught in an affair.
As usual, Banksy seemed to have pulled off the feat without anyone seeing him at work.
I was likely among the first handful of people to spot it before the news spread. The artwork would later become the first piece of street art in the UK to receive legal protection.
I’d moved to Bristol the year before to spend time with family there and travel around Europe.
It was an amazing city, but one of the highlights for me was always the street art, much of it by Banksy, which could be found throughout his hometown.
I loved how he could transform an ordinary, blank wall into something that made you laugh or, as with many of his more political works, stop and think.
Little did I know that 20 years later I’d be painting murals of my own, transforming ordinary spaces into something full of life and colour. It still doesn’t quite feel real! Writing ‘artist’ as my occupation on a customs form for the first time was a real pinch-me moment. It certainly fitted on that little line better than ‘orthodontic laboratory technician’!
My first major mural was at Whenuakite School. The brief was to create something colourful that would inspire the students and incorporate the school’s values. I chose the life cycle of the monarch butterfly, which I felt perfectly represented the students’ journey through the school.
They arrive as cute little caterpillars, are nurtured and protected as they grow, and eventually emerge as beautiful butterflies, full of knowledge and ready to fly off into the future. My favourite feature is the interactive butterfly wings. I still get a kick out of seeing parents taking their children’s first-day-of-school photos in front of them, knowing those pictures will become treasured memories in the years to come.
Since then, I’ve painted murals at Wildwood Mini Golf, Cooked Mexican Restaurant and The Lost Spring, as well as creating blackboard artwork for cafés and takeaways, decorating food trucks and painting murals in private homes.
One of my favourites was a beautiful beachfront home at Cooks Beach. The owners had seen my work at Cooked and wanted a Mexican-themed splashback for their bar area, but with a design that was deeply personal to them.
I loved getting to know them and finding ways to tell their story through the artwork. The focal point was a set of playing cards, reflecting how the couple had met while playing poker. They became the king and queen, while the two jacks represented their sons. Every detail in the mural had a hidden meaning, making it much more than just a decorative feature. It was their story, painted onto a wall.
Some of my most well known works are the Chorus cabinets in Whangamatā, Cooks Beach and Whitianga. The Chorus Cabinet Art initiative is a fantastic idea, bringing together local councils and Chorus to transform unsightly telecommunications cabinets into canvases for local artists.
Each year, Chorus selects 12 of its favourite cabinets from around New Zealand to be professionally photographed and featured in calendars and gifts distributed to Parliament, councils and clients. Two of my designs were selected: my marlin near the Joan Gaskell roundabout and my Beach Hop inspired artwork in Whangamatā.
More recently, I painted a striped marlin onto a wooden kitchen benchtop for a keen game fishing family. They’d seen a video of someone using a wood burner to create an image of a fish on timber and wondered if I could achieve a similar effect with paint. As someone who loves using colour, working with a much more limited palette was a different experience, but one I thoroughly enjoyed.
There’s something satisfying about stripping a design back to its simplest elements and letting the natural beauty of the wood shine through. I’m planning to create a series of artworks and small furniture pieces in a similar style to sell locally.
Looking ahead, I have a couple more murals lined up, some old surfboards waiting to be transformed into artworks, and an exciting project painting sets and props for MBPA’s upcoming production of Grease Young@Part.
When I think back to that drizzly morning in Bristol, watching people gather to admire a painting on a wall, I could never have imagined where that moment would lead me.
Now, I’m the one with a paintbrush in hand, turning everyday spaces into something unexpected, colourful and full of meaning.
And I feel incredibly lucky to be doing it here, in a place where creativity is embraced, opportunities keep appearing, and there’s always another blank surface waiting to become something special.
Email: mural.magic.nz@gmail.com
Ph: 0211338188
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sarahnicholsonartnz
Instagram: @muralmagicnz
Words by Sarah Nicholson
Coromind: Coromandel’s Collaborative Magazine
Help us take Coromind Magazine to new heights by becoming a member. Click here
Change the Weather for Your Business: Advertise with Us.
Advertise your business in the whole Hauraki Coromandel in the coolest Coromandel Art Magazine, from Waihi Beach/Paeroa /Thames up to the Great Barrier Island.
Advertise Smarter, Not Harder: Get in Touch
