Haven House 2007

When I was planning to design the murals for Haven House, I wanted them to reflect the foundations of the Christian faith. I also felt it was necessary to avoid any obvious church imagery, as the establishment itself had created an atmosphere that was attractive to those who would normally find a church environment daunting. At Haven House visitors would find a place that was both peaceful and contemplative that could meet their spiritual needs, and this was something I also wanted to achieve in the paintings. The murals also needed to fit within the beautiful garden that had been created there, so that people could enjoy both the gardens and murals together; so the theme of flowers seemed to be an appropriate choice to use as a visual theme running through each design.

I wanted each painting to be able to be viewed as individual piece of art, but also to have a narrative running though them so that they are integrally linked, with symbolic imagery that would tell something of the Christian message of Christ’s life, suffering, death and resurrection.  Through this blog I have explained the meaning behind each painting,  which I hope you will find encouraging, thought provoking and enlightening. Of course it is not the same as experiencing them first hand, but I hope you will get something from them by seeing the paintings on-line.

The situation at Haven House has changed since I finished the murals back in 2007. It is still owned and run by Christians, but now it functions as an office for 'Christians Against Poverty', and also there are various meetings and art classes taking place there now. Unfortunately it is not open to the public as it once was, so that is why I have created this blog to make sure that the murals are seen by a wider audience. However if you would like to see them, you can contact either Martin Brown at Haven House, email: martmy@btinternet.com, or David Stevens, email: davidkstevens@live.co.uk. They kindly said that people could get in touch with them to arrange to see the paintings by appointment.


Whatever way you get to see the paintings, I hope you enjoy them!

The life and healing of Christ

The three sun flowers represent the radiant Holy Trinity (God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit), standing in a clay vase, which represents humanity. Together illustrating God in human form - Christ, who although was fully God was also fully man and dwelt amongst us.

The Rose of Sharon mentioned in the bible has been interpreted by many as either being Jesus or the church. For the purpose of the mural I wanted it to represent both. The Rose of Sharon has been known to be used for medicinal purposes, and I wanted this aspect of the flower to speak about Christ and his church’s healing ministry here on earth. The symbolism is also continued in the presence of the medicine bottle, and the pestle and mortar, which underlines the cost of what brought about that healing - Christ’s death. As it says in the book of Isaiah 53 v 5 “..he was crushed for our inequities...”

It is a sunny day. Christ is present which brings light to the earth. The gate represents Jesus through whom we should enter  to obtain eternal life. The lake is the baptism which we must receive, and the mountain, like in the bible indicates God’s presence.

The suffering of Christ

For the suffering of Christ I chose to use seven red roses to symbolise, the seven wounds he received; to his head by the crown of thorns, his back by scourging, his hands and his feet by being nailed to a cross , and his side by the spear that pierced his side. Red obviously seemed appropriate to represent his blood, along with the thorns to represent the crown of thorns.

The Rose of Sharon is wilting to signify that as a church we share in Christ’s suffering also. On the window seal there is a hammer and three nails to illustrate that it is “God in flesh” who was tortured here.

A raven behind the window is seen to represent impending doom. As a scavenger he is waiting for death to arrive. In art, black coloured birds have been used to represent death. Because of our unbelief and sin the King of Kings was put on trial and tortured. I wanted  to illustrate that dark forces were at work here, and seemed to have the victory.  In the background the storm clouds are beginning to gather and cover the sun. The light of the world is being removed.

The death of Christ

Here we have Christ’s death. The white lily is a flower that is often associated with funerals, and so seemed to be the most appropriate choice. I chose to paint three flowers to indicate the amount of days Christ was in the tomb.  The tomb is represented by the stone vase.

Beside the vase the Rose of Sharon is dead, as Christians do not only share in Christ’s suffering we are also baptised in his death also. 

The apple is to remind us all that it was our sin that made it necessary for Christ to die. Adam and Eve tasted the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil , despite being told not to by God, showing humanities natural inclination to disobey God’s commands. Before a holy and all powerful God a price had to be paid for our rebellion, so that we can again enjoy his presence and protection. That price was in the death of Jesus Christ who took the punishment for us all.

In the background dark storm clouds dominate the sky obscuring the sun completely. The rain falls like tears of God over the land.

The resurrection of Christ

Christ has risen! Seven Daffodils are displayed. Seven is often mentioned in the bible when referring to completeness and perfection. Through Christ’s resurrection God’s perfect work of salvation was complete.

The pot is made of silver reminding us of the price of suffering and death Jesus had to pay to save us. The Rose of Sharon is restored because as Christ raised from the dead, Christians too will be raised with  him. The apple is also restored to show that the forgiveness obtained in his death, and the power of the resurrection cancels out our sins. We had been made perfect by this one act of sacrifice.

The red wine is a reminder of Christ’s  blood that was shed, but also  an indication of something else that was achieved  by his death and resurrection, that  was the coming of the Holy Spirit who brings new life into the hearts of those who trust and believe him.

The window is open, so that the Holy Spirit can enter the room, in the same way we too must be open and ready to receive  Christ and his message of salvation to the world.

All four murals took two Springs and Summers to complete between 2006 and 2007. Again like the God's Garden mural these were done whenever I could spare the time, and if the weather was conducive to mural painting. This time I used a grid system to scale the drawing up, but still used the same paints, which was Dulux Masonry, Vibrant range.

God's Garden 2003

As the area is called 'God's Garden' it was a natural choice to go for a Garden of Eden scene, but I wanted to do something that was light hearted and joyful, rather than serious. At first, to save time I was just going to paint everything in block colour, but once I started to shade things, the painting grew from that. It took me two Springs and Summers to complete (2002 to 2003), working in whatever spare time I had, so you can understand why I get rather upset when people decide to put graffiti on it!

The system I used was to draw the illustration, transfer it onto acetate and then blow each section up on the wall using an overhead projector. The paints used were Dulux Masonry Vibrant Range, which I found perfect for the job in hand. The colours can mix well, they are water based, vibrant (as the name suggests), and very durable. Although the smallest can you get is 2.5 litres, I keep what I have left over for other projects that may come up. I used old re-sealable takeaway containers, as it saved me from lumping heavy cans around with me, while painting the wall. Another good tip is to use cling film around a can to seal it. Once a can is opened, it is sometimes hard to get the lid to attach itself completely. If air gets in your paint it will just dry up. The cling film should stop that from happening!

As a location, despite the fact you are very near two major roads, it is a very peaceful one. After a while the sound of the cars go into the distance in favour of the sound of water bubbling by, and the wind through the trees. It is a real sun trap also, and I had to have a canopy erected to protect me from the heat. Great for sunbathing, but not for an all day session of painting, especially when it is so hot the paint started to dry on the brush. It was the intention of the owner to have this as a peaceful place where people could just stop and rest for a while, and it was a real pleasure to meet some of them while I was painting.

I would have been happier if there had been railings around the side by the river, and there was talk of the council installing them there, but unfortunately did not do it in the end. Maybe one day!

Although simpler to paint, because of the block colours, getting the staggered lettering up the slope was a difficult task!

The photo does not show the motion lines very well, but the elephant is sucking the water out, and then blowing the snorkelled rabbit out of his trunk. The elephant does not have two trunks!:)

Also please do not allow your rabbit to do a similar stunt. IT WILL DROWN!

A contented leaping tiger

A spaced out looking giraffe. There must be something in that plant he is eating!

A leaping sheep to bring movement to the mural.

It was particularly nice to be able to use a range of different bright colours on this, and and this parrot was exceptionally colourful!

This is my favourite character. This is one rabbit that likes to have fun!

This is the sketch I did in 2001 on which I based the whole mural design.

It was very nice that the Bristol Evening Post did an article on it in August 2003. I did not post my picture from it, as it would infringe the copyright of the photographer.




If anyone would like to see the mural, it is near the roundabout at Wapping and Cumberland Road in Bristol UK. You will see a sign for God's Garden, and just follow the path onto the green and you will not be able to miss it.

Dings Mural 1998

This was the first mural I had ever done, and seeing it is about 110ft long, you will understand that I felt a little daunted with the prospect of tackling this project. It had major problems: The wall is backed up to soil, so salt deposits would leak through and destroy the paint work. The brick had a very hard shiny glaze which needed to be removed (thankfully not by me), before any paint could adhere to the surface. To be honest with you I was not keen, but I was encouraged by Greg Durham (another member of Pip'n'Jay Church) to do the project.

This certainly was a team effort: Various members of the Dings community and Pips brought this whole thing into reality. First the surface had to be treated to remove the salt deposits, and then a industrial pin gun was used to remove the glaze. I then gridded up the area, and did a black outline for the illustration, marked where the colours needed to go, and then the children from the Dings painted it all in. I certainly learnt so much from doing this, which became useful for the projects that were to follow.

The idea behind the painting was to show a reflection of the scene opposite, but with the park full of people (with some local characters), doing all sort of activities. We have people with hot air balloons, selling food, cycling, flying a kite, and playing in the Pip'n'Jay bus. I did two designs for the mural, but I knew that the community would choose this design over the other one!

In the end, despite a few salt deposits damaging the surface, even after all this time it does not look too bad. I was also pleased that as a result of these efforts that more money was pumped into park, so that a playground was created, as well as this lovely sign you can see in this picture.

I think my shirt is as colourful as the mural

This is a newspaper clipping from the Bristol Evening Post giving more information about the project. As well as this we were also interviewed by Radio Bristol. All I can remember about that is that I was incredibly nervous!:)