Live Mural for Joseph, 77 Fulham Road

Last year the wonderful people at Joseph asked me to contribute a window display at their Kensington flagship store, they gave me the freedom to curate and design the entire space, so I suggested painting them a huge mural live in front of the general public. At the time I started this project winter was drawing in and Halloween was around the corner, it was a great excuse to embrace the darkness of the coming season and paint something brooding, gothic and gleefully weird.

The most thrilling aspect of the project was the danger of it, the fact that I had absolutely no idea what I was coming in to paint was so exciting, the risk involved really interested me. The only thing I had to go on was black, white and red, the rest was totally improvised. The decision-making process that would normally happen in private was happening in front of the public and every mistake was there in the open, for the world to see, so there was great pressure to make every brush stroke count. that pressure informed my approach to the painted. The public also became part of the creative process with me, tapping on the glass, cheering me on, sometimes coming into the store to talk to me about what I was making. The support and encouragement from passers by was really heartening.