Thornton Heath in Croydon is where the Scene in London story began. I was volunteering for the local community action team. From litter picking, flower planting and creating anti flytipping posters for the High Street and local parks.
Interest in my work grew, along with requests to purchase my drawings. An online store followed, and I have continued to draw more of London's neighbourhoods ever since.
I was involved in a variety of initiatives in the area, all with a mission to brighten up and celebrate the local neighbourhood. The below projects are from 2018 and 2019.
I designed a series of anti littering banners for parks in Croydon including these designs for Grangewood Park. I created artwork in a colour palette sympathetic to the environment, to work with the natural surroundings. Thank you to THCAT for organising this initiative.
With the help of the Thornton Heath Community Action Team, I organised an art competition inviting locals to design lamp post banners to brighten the community with colour and positive messages. The artwork transformed a long, narrow, and busy stretch of road along the bus route into a vibrant street exhibition. Thanks to generous funding for 10 banners, entries poured in from local residents, including artist BareFace (top left) and FreeArt, who collaborated with a local refugee centre (top right).
Anti littering campaign. I organised another art competition, inviting the local community to design posters for the bins along the High Street.
The drawings and messages transformed the unsightly bins, adding a splash of colour and positivity while instilling a sense of pride.
This poster was designed by local sisters, Kayleigh and Anastasia.
Like many High Streets, littering around street furniture is a common problem. I was asked to design a way to discourage this behaviour. My idea was to create a "Please don't litter Thornton Heath" message that was non-threatening, visually appealing, and added beauty to the street. Inspired by lace doilies, I designed an all-white pattern that was clean, eye-catching, and featured motifs representing the local area. These included the Crystal Palace football club, the Thornton Heath Clocktower, vegetables from local grocers, and dancers from the Sakthy Ghanapathy Temple. With input from locals, I identified littering hotspots and installed my anti-littering stencils on lampposts and road signs throughout the area. The outcome was very positive, with residents noticing little to no fly tipping with the stencils installed.
I wanted my design to be visible at night time too, as this is when a lot of fly tipping occurs. I used glow in the dark paint to highlight the hotspot, create interest in the dark and deter littering.
A supportive feature in the Thornton Heath Chronicle. Thank you Andrea and Van from The Chronicle and Gaetane who organised the Street Action Project.