'Romanistan' Mural Commission

Readers, I share with you exciting news. I shared a post many moons ago about how I'd been invited to a small Predominantly Roma (Gypsy) village on the Hungarian/Ukrainian border...well there were funding complications and I came to believe that it was a dream that I'd never come to realise. All this changed a couple of weeks ago when the project was given the green light again. By creating this Fresco Village, the idea is to turn a deeply impoverished community into a place where people are no longer marginalised, no longer misrepresented and no longer viewed as the outsider. We hope that the art on offer there will help boost a struggling rural economy and help empower Roma people. To date, there have been about 30 murals completed from artists from all over Europe. I leave with my assistant for the village of Bodvalenke in September 2013. Below you will see my preliminary sketches. I will of course share the results upon my return.   

X marks the spot.

Bodvalenke Women's Choir in front of one of the existing murals.

Initial sketch.

Refined sketch ready for colouring.

Coloured sketch experiment.

After playing around with some ideas I started (and finished) the final coloured sketch that is to form the basis of my 80 sq m mural....yes you heard right, eighty beautiful squared metres. Here it is in all its glory. Click to enlarge.