“What is a harebell?” is a question I have been asked a lot recently.
A harebell is not the same as a bluebell, but confusingly, it is also known as the bluebell of Scotland. Harebells are a light shade of violet and have very thin, delicate stems, often dancing in the breeze in wild countryside and waysides.
What a wonderful challenge for me to bring the enchanting beauty of the harebell flower to Harebell Street, Liverpool.
The area at this end of Harebell Street, sadly, has often been used as a dog toilet and for fly-tipping. The situation was grim. I tried to persuade the landlord to fix the appalling cracks and holes in the wall before I started painting, but he was too busy to attend to it. He said I could get it sorted myself - so I did!
Turning a place of ugliness into a place of beauty
My vision for this mural was to create a large archway that would lead the viewer into a magical woodland with a feel similar to English bluebell woods, but characterized by the harebell. One of my favourite childhood books was Cicely Mary Barker’s “Seasons of the Flower Fairies” and I wanted to create my own harebell fairies using the tenant’s granddaughters as models (which they were all happy to do).
A battle
I had to work with a top-down approach, in stages because of the damaged then repaired area, and with a scissor lift that broke three times, twice with people up it. A very rainy July also caused delays and complications to this mural. But determination and persistence won in the end.
It took intense concentration and focus to harmoniously interlace all the tree branches and to build up the foliage, making it merge from realistic beech leaves in the middle to a more fractalized stain-glass window style at the sides. But I’m sure the endless complexity in nature is part of what makes it have such a soothing effect on us. So it’s worth doing in art if we want to create the same sort of atmosphere.
Creating the “opposite of a crisis”
I’ve said before that the kind of art I want to do is the uplifting kind. There’s already plenty of negativity and cynicism in the world for people to deal with. It’s well-known that Kirkdale’s Flower Streets have had problems to do with crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour. This is why the Safer Streets funding was allocated to them (in case you missed it, here is an article from June 2021.)
Having come out the other side of dark seasons personally, I’m a big believer in the possibility for everyone to have their own “breakthrough”. This is why, when the scissor lift left us, I decided to extend the sunbeams and the stained glass effect, with “panels” that other people could help fill in, using the colours of the bluebell woodland.
Local passers-by have commented that the mural seems to be “pulling them in” to a brighter place! We’ve had some really enthusiastic, appreciative and sincere comments from members of the public.
A big thank you to everyone who helped on this mural
The art students are away from Liverpool since it’s the summer holidays. I was really grateful to have local people help me, because an artwork on this scale and level of detail would have been overwhelming to do single-handedly, and it would definitely have taken longer than three weeks.
Colin helped on the first day and I also had the sweet and skilful presence of Danielle throughout, who painted a wonderful hare and the butterfly wings of my harebell fairies. We were also joined by Eddie, who we had met at the Daisy Street mural. Rod came along to paint in phase 2 and kept me going to the very end. Ever-faithful Joyce was incredibly supportive as usual, especially by taking photos and talking to the locals.
Community involvement
I had already got to know the three women who live in this house, through working on the other murals. Two eleven-year-old members of their family have become quite the artistic helpers over the past months! Being a teacher and mother, I have spent much of my adult life doing creative and educational things with children; it was completely natural to have their presence and involvement in this mural. The girls made beautiful Scouse harebell fairies! Their grandma is “made up” and I gave her the original sketches as a gift.
The meaning of harebells
In the Language of Flowers, harebells stand for childhood, grief and humility. It makes sense, then, to include children and their innocence and playfulness. Unexpectedly, grief also came up. On the last day a local woman came along, distraught and sobbing because her mum, whose name was Rose, had just died. She begged us to paint a little rose on the mural in her mum’s memory, which we did.
Harebells are also often associated with spiritual enlightenment, inner peace, and the ability to see beauty in the small things of life. I wasn’t sure about whether this mural needed words or poetry because there was already so much visual impact. But we came up with a concise statement at the last hour, based on something another resident told me a week earlier:
“You’re putting goodness into a bad place.” (Dave, Woodbine Street resident)
Sometimes, how we experience the world depends on our attitude and mindset towards it. What do you think about this statement?
Things I’ve learned/re-learned in a deeper way
Art involves a LOT of problem-solving.
The human inclination to fix, make whole and beautify can be seen in all sorts of professions and hobbies. For example, my husband enjoys fixing old cars. A massage therapist soothes and mends aching bodies. A make-up artist does the same things as me - preparing a surface and making it as beautiful as it can possibly be.
Hard work - getting up early, putting the hours in, not doing things by halves - gets results.
Your attitude towards yourself, and the way you invest time in understanding and growing your own self-worth, without becoming conceited, will be noticed. And it will matter.
Rendering is a useful skill!
Thanks for reading. I’m starting the mural for Crocus Street on Monday.
Lovely artwork ♡
Ohhh . . . Wordless at the Beauty of it all. I am delighted to think on the memories you are making, especially those with the girls that will last a lifetime. And the dear lady whom you comforted. 🙏🏻 💓