Magnificent murals are becoming a huge hit!

05/29/2019

Murals are becoming a popular commission for many CM Artists, proving to be a huge hit with residents, staff, families and friends. Here are some of the murals that have been completed by CM Artists across the country…

On a warm summers night last year, whilst residents at Tilsley House in Weston-Super-Mare slept, CM Artist Susannah quietly set up her equipment and painted this lovely tree on the living room wall – much to everyone’s surprise the next day! Since then, during her regular art sessions, the residents work on different woodland creations to add to the scene. It has become a seasonal project, and an interactive area for residents to display artwork created in their sessions.

Last summer residents created tropical birds, flowers and butterflies to decorate the tree.

As summer drew to an end, residents enjoyed creating red and golden leaves, squirrels and an owl to give the tree a lovely warm autumnal feel.

On the run up to Christmas, Susannah created this cute fawn as an addition to the display. Stars, robins and festive lanterns were added to give it a wintery feel.

During recent weeks the display has taken on a fresh new springtime look, with pretty cherry blossom, tulips and bunnies.

Zoe, Manager at Tilsley House says; “This really brightens up the lounge and residents love admiring each other’s creations. They love the personal touch of seeing their own artwork on display, and enjoy identifying the seasonal elements of the mural.”

Meanwhile, down in Sussex, CM Artist Sarah, brought together residents and staff at Saxonwood Care Home in Battle. Along with the help of some little ones, all worked together to create this striking mural of the Severn Sisters – one of Britain’s most iconic sea-views. It was great to have such a mix of people getting involved and each adding their own stamp to this beautiful piece. Resident Derrick, a talented artist himself, oversaw the whole piece, and added some finishing touches at the end. Staff and residents are absolutely thrilled with the end result, which has really brightened up the corridor.

Roxy, Deputy Manager said, “This was such a wonderful project that involved so many people. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed working on it. It is lovely to see so many residents admiring and interacting with the finished piece. In fact, the project was such a success that we are already in talks about creating more murals around the home. We love the idea of creating a ‘Nightime Promenade’ scene next!”

CM Artist Karen recently completed a ‘Pet Corner’ mural at Kingsleigh Care Home in Woking. The home has a number of pets, and the residents loved the idea of seeing some of the animals on the wall. So Karen created this beautiful mural in response, and the residents were overjoyed!

Manager Kelly says, “The residents are delighted with the new mural! It really brightens up the area, and they love chatting about it. They were thrilled to see their suggestions come to life and were so excited to see the finished piece! Karen is just incredible – she adapts to any requests the residents have and they all absolutely love her!”

CM Artist Tracey, based in Yorkshire has created a “Wishing Tree Mural” at Beech Hall in Armley, Leeds. Again residents decorate the tree according to the seasons and Tracey spent time recording everyone’s wishes, which are printed, decorated and added to the wall. The residents love this personal element and see it as a symbol of hope and positivity. In fact the mural has been so popular that the home requested Tracey to create a second one upstairs on the first floor. This was recently completed and is part of an indoor garden, which will include various interactive features for all to engage with. We can’t wait to see how this murals commission develops this year!

Brightening up Care Homes with Marvelous Murals!

03/08/2017

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Our Creative Minds (CM) Artist’s visit a huge variety of care homes and other venues every month reaching over 1000 participants in their Art Sessions. Lots of artwork is created by the participants and so we try to encourage all of the care homes and other venues we work with to display the artwork on the walls to help create a vibrant and stimulating environment. All of the care homes that have displayed the residents artwork on their wall have noted not only the positive impact its had on the residents but the impact its had on the care environment, giving the home more vitality. Care homes are now looking at other ways they can liven up communal areas and corridors and the staff at Hammonds Care Home in Bognor Regis decided to approach Jenny S, their CM Artist based in Chichester about painting a mural to brighten up their entrance and hallway. James Hodge, Manager of Hammonds Care Home, explains to us the thought behind the wild flower mural project and how the home has reacted to their fabulous custom artwork!

What made you decide to have a mural at Hammonds Care Home?

“Hammonds is a residential and respite service for adults with learning disabilities. Hammonds has a lovely homely and fun feel to it and we like to keep the place looking bright by displaying the art of the people that live or stay with us here. We have always felt that the entrance and hallway to the home didn’t reflect the atmosphere of the home being quite cold and dull with brown doors to cupboards and noticeboards. It looked more like an office than a home.”

“Jenny S, has been coming to us delivering Art Sessions with some of the people that live here and we discussed what we could do. The Art Sessions participants started off by making `Welcome to Hammonds’ bunting. This looked great but then really got us thinking about doing something more. It then just happened quickly. We looked at some designs, a bit of base painting and hey presto we were underway….and now we have a lovely wild meadow instead of a dull hallway. The Art Sessions group are going to paint some meadow animals and insects to really give it a 3D effect.”

 

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mural

 

How have the residents and staff reacted to the mural?

“Everyone loves it, visitors, staff and residents. Every time someone comes through the door they comment on it and how much they like it. It seems like everyone has a favourite flower. I find I am often in the hallway with people picking out our favourite ones. One lady has just done her own drawing of her favourite `the daffodil’.”

James asked another resident who lives at the home and they said, “I just like it. I like the colours and it looks much nicer.”

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mural

 

What’s your opinion on the artwork?

“I am a great believer in the influence of environment on people and this has a really positive effect. Our entrance and hallway now reflects the positive and welcoming atmosphere of the home. It gives everyone a lift, is a talking point and it makes me smile every time I walk through the door. The mural is better than I could have hoped for as is the response to it. I had high hopes for the mural and even with these I have been surprised just how much a difference it has made.”

James Hodge Manager, Hammonds Care Home.

“I had a lovely time working on the mural at Hammonds Care Home, the staff and residents were so on board about wanting a piece to brighten up the space. The flowers work so well and It’s great to give them a piece of art that welcomes both them and visitors.”

Jenny S, CM Artist.

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mural

 

We’ve seen a rise in the number of care homes requesting mural’s and this is a service that our community of experienced CM Artists are more happy to provide.

Thanks for reading,

Kayleigh.