Flower Streets Murals April 2023

Painting starts April 24th!

Organising, logistics, planning, shopping….

Preparing to do murals like this takes somewhat more preparation than just buying a canvas and a paint-set from Hobbycraft. There was a bit of a delay because of some legal things that Liverpool City Council and Culture Liverpool have been taking care of. I wanted the first mural to be Snowdrop Street, but we’re still waiting for something to be signed off for that one… However, Pansy Street has given us the green light and is ready to be painted, hurray! The cherry picker is booked, the paint has been mixed and bought, the brushes and rollers are ready for use and everything is ready for me and my first set of volunteers.

Set to start on Pansy Street

This past week, I was joined by a community payback group, painting over graffiti and doing a litter pick at the end of the streets.

It's good to have a record of how things were before the project starts.

It was a beautiful sunny spring day, and it felt so good to be tidying up and preparing for this new season for the flower streets. I talked to some residents and had some really nice conversations. I was even kindly given some water for my bucket - I was going back and forth from the paint shop testing out colours on the wall!

Purple - the most common colour for the pansy. Two friendly residents on Pansy Street gave me some good advice and local info.

Memories of the Factories

It was interesting to learn that the Tillotsons Cartons factory was one of the old factories that could be seen from the end of Pansy Street. There were loads of factories around Commercial Road that people here used to work at; they were closed in the late seventies and early eighties, and that’s when things started to downhill apparently. Unemployment, lack of purpose, break-up of the community and livelihood…Before, people used to walk down to the factories to work and it was a buzzing neighbourhood. I was thinking it might be a nice idea to paint one of the factories, that older people will recognise, onto the mural on one of the side panels. Pansies are all about remembrance, after all.

Tillotsons Cartons. If anyone has any photos of the factories that could be seen from the end of Pansy Street, please get in touch with me ASAP.

There was also Tate and Lyle and many others. There are some interesting Liverpool Echo photo essays here and here.

The decline of traditional industries in the 1970s and 80s had a huge impact on working-class communities. Many people relied on a single industry for work, and if that industry couldn’t provide jobs, the whole community was left unemployed. Unemployment often led to depression and increased crime rates. (Many of you will be familiar with Willy Russell’s play “Blood Brothers” which explores this.)

I’m thinking about the dignity, sense of purpose and self-worth that comes from a good day’s work. I’m grateful that much of my work involves working with my hands, and helping others use theirs too in my art classes.

Purple - the colour of dignity and creativity (and the Liverpool bins!)

The most common colour for pansies is purple, often with splotches of white and yellow. I decided that the background colours of the mural should be a vivid lilac and a deeper, darker purple on the sides. Coincidentally, the bin colour for Liverpool is purple! Apparently, when wheelie bins were first introduced in 2000, the proposed colour was red. But it was thought that this would anger Everton fans, so the red and blue were “mixed together” to make purple! For more info about that, go here.

The gable end of 5 Pansy Street - with one of the bins just visible!

I just want it to be bright, beautiful and powerful, and somehow bring a positive feeling to the environment. I want the people who live here to know they are remembered and respected, and that this area matters.

My design for the gable end of 5 Pansy Street

Gold borders - a recurring theme

The border around the archway is yellow in the picture above, but I’ve decided that it will be painted gold. This is to support the theme I’ve suggested above with purple - to combat the poverty and neglect in Kirkdale with colours that represent wealth, success, value and generosity. Gold has also been used throughout the ages for religious art and to show esteem for deity. The pointed archways hint at a stained glass window/spiritual setting, so I think this makes sense. With every mural that has an archway and a huge flower inside, I would like to paint its border gold. (I often use gold paint and gold leaf in my own artwork.)

Lower “panels” for extra visual info and Pansy poetry/words

You’ll see I’ve left two white rectangles at the lower section. One I’m thinking could be a painting of one of the nearby factories - again, if any local people have photos from the old days, I would be extremely interested to see them - contact me immediately by leaving a comment.

On the other side, I’m thinking of a bit of poetry that came from the Pansy sessions earlier this year. Perhaps:

There is a flower I love to see.
It nods its head and smiles at me.
Its friendly velvet petals gaze
In cheerfulness to brighter days.

Or:

I love to see 
the pansy nod its head 
and smile 
with cheerful velvet petals
gazing in friendship

I’m not sure whether to use the first poem that rhymes or the second one that doesn’t. If you have an opinion, please leave a comment!

Why a red pansy in the middle?

I’ve mentioned before that pansies symbolize qualities like compassion, remembrance, and nostalgia, embodying thoughtfulness with their face-like petals. Red pansy flowers are the ones most associated with love. Although red traditionally symbolises romantic love we have for a significant other, red pansies can also symbolise platonic love.

I wanted to have a red pansy right in the middle partly because many of the other flowers on the streets are cooler colours (eg snowdrop, harebell)…..but also because I believe that everything good in the universe flows out of love. We can’t have patience if we don’t have love. We can’t be truly kind if we have no genuine love in our heart. We can’t give or receive forgiveness if we first don’t have love. Cheerfulness, laughter, a good sense of humour - all of these things originate in love and increase love.

Every human being in the world deserves the chance to love and be loved, no matter who they are or what they’ve done. There’s not a single person on the planet who gets it right 100% of the time.

I hope I won’t get too many things wrong as I start this project, and that people will be patient with me as I start working and co-ordinating volunteers. (If you do want to come along and help out, contact me and we will find compatible days!)

Crocus Street will be included!

I’ll sign off with the happy announcement that Crocus Street will be getting a mural! I’m delighted that I will be painting this cheery cup-shaped flower that heralds the start of spring.

Best wishes to you all, and may your spring be full of freshness and renewal!

Madeleine