Have you got ‘pictures’ on your wall? Ever fancied something different? Something meaningful? Something nobody else has?
In our Interior Display Work, we have been responsible for putting some pretty strange things on walls from twisted wire sculpt at the Café Surf, Birmingham, to Glass Painted Bavarian ‘Oompah oompah’ bands on Bier Keller reception windows. I think we caught the ‘on the wall’ habit from a great friend of ours, Glass and wood Creative John Eley, who creates some of the most wonderful stained glass and etched glass walls in the known universe.
It seems to me that ‘paint’ has cornered the ‘wall covering market’. Pictures and Photographs are running a close second for their ‘partial wall covering skills’, and in third place, thanks to Pub Designers in the UK, comes ‘paraphernalia’.
Interior Designers start rag rolling or fracturing paint to make it less boring and suppliers of pictures either blow them up full size to cover the walls like wallpaper or throw a frame around small painterly pieces to show where their picture ends and your wall begins.
One day I want to be invited to a restaurant that can change itself instantly with 360 degree seamless video walls that through back projection can create ‘whatever’ and ‘whenever’ convincingly. Until this movie wall day arrives, I am determined to make walls more interesting and worthy of close scrutiny by using them as a vehicle for private thoughts written on cards, letters and postcards. Your wall can ooze with reader pulling power whether it is in a restaurant or at home in your bedroom. Fancy having a wall of valentine cards from heavenly bodies on Feb. 14th ?
Putting ‘off the wall’ ideas ‘on the wall’ creates great fun. Boring Dental Surgeries could have walls of patient feedback saying how for example, ‘Mrs Trencham’s tongue swelling has gone down’ ….
Ideas on a postcard ……. ?
Every wall I see is starring me in the face as a show place for fun. With the added use of personal and private letters, cards and postcards, walls can attract the curious, and bridge the waiting gap of your visitors. Everyone is curious and some are just nosey so use this inquisitive habit to provide some entertainment.
Well as often happens when writing blogs like these, I start chatting away as if I was in the same virtual room as you; by the time I press ‘send’ I have enlarged the blog ten fold, and by mentioning some of the fun we’ve had on projects I have moved away from what I was originally going to mention; namely the use of themed collections of words and images to support ‘message’.
The Picture above shows a group of themed postcards collected together for display at the Alexander Theatre, Birmingham, when David Wood was there Directing his Whirligig Theatre Play, “The Selfish Shellfish”. I love the work of dramatist, David Wood – “the undisputed master of children’s shows”. As this Play tells the story of the “Great Oil Slick” and how it damages the sea environment, it was the perfect opportunity to match in the messages of the Children’s Environmental Charity, World of Water.
If you have a wall and want something other than another ‘painting’ on it this season, try letters, cards and postcards for they are personal and thus full of real history from the heart.
If you are working on Children’s projects that are connected with water and the environment, I am sure ‘World of Water’ would love to hear from you and might be able to help you in some way – always worth asking so drop me a line !
‘Off the Wall’ Waves from ~~~~~~~~~ <+))))))))>< ~~~ Grant
“WATER LORE”, is an ongoing project, hosted by the Charity ‘World of Water’, to trace and record the evolving role of water in developing and maintaining communities.