Artist creates amazing mural for sensory garden at Johnstone school

Steve Blackmore, 32, painted the vibrant artwork, which depicts a humming bird and kingfisher searching for food, on the side of Corseford School over the course of two days.

The dad-of-three donated his services after being put in contact with the specialist school’s technician Tony Green, who designed the sensory garden with his wife Suzanne this summer.

“Tony and Suzanne created the sensory garden at the school for the kids during lockdown, and they wanted a mural for the wall to finish it off,” Steve told The Gazette.

“They are really passionate about the project, which I found quite contagious and inspired me as well.

“A lot of the kids at the school are non-verbal, so we wanted to design it in a way to get their senses going.

“For instance, I incorporated the water feature in the garden into the design of the artwork, so it looks like the water is flowing over the rocks on the mural, to give it a dynamic feel.”

There are also various other features around the garden to stimulate the senses of the youngsters, such as buttons that produce bird sounds when pressed, different types of materials to touch and musical instruments, like xylophones, on the walls for the children to play.

Steve, who is originally from Erskine, said: “The kids have seen the mural and I understand it’s received a good reaction from them, and the staff love it too.

“The artwork was designed to compliment the amazing work that Tony and Suzanne had already done, and I think we’ve achieved that. 

“I hope it stimulates the kids and they enjoy it along with all the other interactive activities in the garden. I’m currently working on the concept of another mural which will be painted on other side of the school.”

In April, Steve painted a mural of a masked nurse in his back garden to to honour NHS heroes.

To view more of his artwork, visit facebook.com/BmoreSketchyArtwork/.

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