STREET ART COMMISSION
BELFAST
‘Belfast Canvas Project’, commissioned by Daisy Chain for Belfast City Council
Dunraven Park, Belfast
May 2025
The Belfast Canvas public art project has transformed utility cabinets owned by the Department for Communities and Virgin Media telecommunications boxes. The project aims to improve the look and feel of the city centre and give people a sense of ownership, while supporting up-and-coming artists.
PLANNING
I created a digital design which could be replicated to form a pattern. The inspiration came from tiles in morocco, Portugal and Madrid that I photographed and painted. As part of the proposal, it was necessary to use colours that were lighter than the original box to ensure the box would stay cool. Patterns were encouraged as to not leave blank space for the design to be defaced in the future.
PRACTICE SESSION
I’ve only used spray paint a handful of times. I had no idea how the different caps changed the flow of paint or what distance needed to be between the work and the surface. Luckily, I had some space to practice in the member’s room of my studio. I was able to test colour combinations and process before attempting the real thing
PAINT DAY
The junction box took a total of 4 hours to paint. I started by cleaning and scraping the box to get rid of any loose paint. Then, I primed with the lilac base layer. I had three different stencils for the green, purple and yellow layers. Then, using acrylic pens, added outlines to the blocked in sections, and the grid resembling the grout between each tile. An impromptu hedge trim really was the cherry on top of this day painting in the sun
Thanks to Kate and Ray for all their help!
