Woodland Hall Restoration
When I went to size up the job, I was blown away by the quality, scale and breadth of the art work that covered every surface. Pretty much every room and corridor in the place has something in it. Each space is themed; the girls toilets are fairy castles and princesses, the boys loos are space ships, astronauts and moon landings. Elsewhere there are unicorns and cannonballs, palaces and piers, trumpets, towers and tenements, wide oceans full of tears, flags, rags, ferryboats, scimitars and scarves, every precious dream and vision underneath the stars. But in the main hall is the scene that is the foundation for the school's structure, which is woodland themed. Apparently all of this was painted some years ago by one woman who came in for a few weeks and was given pretty much a free hand. I couldn't find out who she is, so if anyone knows, I'd love to find out.
Anyhoo; after a decade with a Victorian roof leaking down it, some major repairs were due and this is where I turn up. Because it's an infant school, there is clearly zero budget, so it's going to be a loss-leader... And to be honest, I was kind of intimidated by the pure quality of the earlier work, which is utterly gorgeous. Check out the squirrel! And then there was Fergus*...
Essentially, I had just twenty days over the summer break to get in and do what I could to restore the large tree at the centre of the scene and add any extra flourishes that I could. The tree was the main thing. Where the wall had been fixed almost a third of the tree was gone. In the end, I managed to restore the tree, add a 'hidden' nest with chicks, mother pigeon flying past, bang in a woodpecker, repair/replace some of the foliage around the base of the walls, fix a couple of hot air balloons, add a flight of geese and a biplane trailing a banner with the school motto. And still finish with a couple of days to spare! Not bad at all. Happy with that. Oh, and Fergus!
*Fergus was Barry the site manager's cat that Barry had painted in himself. His house is on site, so Fergus is often in the playground and around the school. Naturally, he's a firm favourite with the kids, so I couldn't leave him out could I? After all, 'e is such a 'appy cat!
