Why I did the Dyke Road Park murals

Christmas 2008 my daughter gave me a fantastic book on Guerrilla Gardening which I read with great enthusiasm. I had been going through a tough period and was trying to encourage myself out of various things including cycles of depression and artist's block. At this time I spent even longer out walking with our dog Queenie and thinking.
We went all over the place, roads, parks, seafront etc and this inspirational book was playing in the back of my mind and I wanted to paint, paint and paint

One sunny walking day Queenie and I were up at Dyke Road Park and on the playground fence was a very old mural board that was virtually rotted in position and it was difficult to work out what the picture had been. A huge excitement hit me as I decided to paint a new mural for the park and I came home very excited by the idea. At home I found 2 huge boards and started to paint. I had a lovely time and although the final results are not brill (lettering particularly) the process and experience was fantastic.

By Easter I had them ready with drill holes and wire and got up a few mornings very early ready to take them out and put them in place, but chickened out each time. At Easter my brother was down staying with us and said he would help me do it, so the next morning Tom, Molly and I were up early and we hung them on the railings.

I had included my email address if anyone wanted to contact me and sent an email and photos off to my friends saying that there could be a range of reactions to what I had done including: them being taken down, me getting in trouble, getting work through it or absolutely nothing.

It's now May 2010 and I have never heard a dickie bird. The murals are still up and the tatty old one has been taken down. Contractors have been in and completely redone the play equipment and landscaping and the murals are still there.

I have an eye on a second venue for a guerrilla painting by me so I will keep you posted