Fresh Creative Co. was commissioned by Tafarn Morlais in conjunction with Brains Brewery to paint a 64ft long mural to be situated in the Tafarn Morlais beer garden in Pontarddulais.
The brief was to include welsh Landmarks which referenced the Welsh mining heritage and in particular the Pontarddulais Colliery.
Situated in the Cwmdulais Valley, three miles from Pontardulais,
Birchrock Colliery first appeared in the listings in 1871, but by
December 1867 Mr. John Glasbrook had leased 800 acres and built a
railway to connect the colliery with the Llanelly Swansea Extension Railway.
The history of the Talyfan mines is far from clear TAL-Y-FAN-FACH was apparently the only one located on
the west side of the railway line and whilst shown on the 1876 O.S. map
at 593052, it was never listed in the Hunts or the HMIM List of Mines,
and appears to have been closed by 1878. It is shown as disused on the
1906, 1918 and 1938 maps.
We also wanted to incorporate welsh fauna and flora so felt the Welsh daffodils would offer some vibrant colour and break from the more industrial elements of the design.
The millennium stadium is also a key feature in the mural, it is the national stadium of Wales, located in Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and has also staged games of the Wales national football team.
PROCESS
We cut the boards to the right dimensions in our workshop at Humphrey lane Studios Swansea and then primed the boards using a masonry paint.
Next was the marking up of the different elements of the design and then adding the colour.
We used a mixture of spray paint and sign painting enamel to create the mural.
Once we had finished the painting process we added a weather resistant lacquer to help keep the mural looking vibrant over time.
FINISHED PIECES
For the design we started with macro images of welsh machinery that were used to bookmark either end and add symmetry to the deign.
We knew daffodils we going to play a big part in the mural and these were used to add continuntiy and draw the diffent elements together.
After research into the Colliery we found a suitable image in the archives to use for the mural.
We also included the millennium stadium as this is a very iconic feature of Wales.
We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the process behind the creation of this mural.
