Public work has a different rhythm from a canvas. A painting in the studio can be private for a while. It can change slowly, lean against a wall for days and wait until I know what to do next. A mural or sign has a clearer deadline and a real setting from the start. It needs to make sense alongside windows, furniture, voices, weather and the changing light of a normal day.
That is what I enjoy about it. The work has to read from a distance, but it also needs details that reward a closer look. Colour and lettering can give a space confidence; painted imagery can make it warmer, more recognisable and more welcoming. In a school, a shop or a shared community space, art is not just something people visit. It becomes part of the background to their everyday life.
The first step is always listening to the space and the people behind it. What should the work communicate? Who will see it most often? Is the feeling playful, calm, bold, uplifting or reflective? Those questions matter more than simply choosing a nice colour palette. The strongest projects feel connected to the people who use the space, rather than like decoration added at the end.
Scale changes everything. A small sketch may look simple on paper, but once it becomes a wall, every line, letter and colour choice has to work much harder. I think about where someone will stand, what they will see first and how the composition will move them through the space. It is practical, but it is also a creative puzzle.
Public projects have made me more collaborative and more decisive. They have taught me to plan clearly, but also to leave room for the character of the place to come through. The final piece is never only mine. It is shaped by the wall, the people, the purpose and the daily life that will happen around it.
For me, this is part of being a multidisciplinary artist. The studio remains where ideas are tested, but art does not have to stay there. It can live in homes, galleries, streets and the everyday places where people gather. I love that a painted wall or a piece of signwriting can make a familiar place feel a little more noticed.
Talk about a commission