A huge new mural celebrating Crowborough’s most famous resident has been completed in under a week.
The tribute to Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle has taken pride of place on the side wall of the Good Friend Chinese Takeaway in Jarvis Brook and is now one of the first things visitors see when they arrive at the station.
The work of talented artists and muralists Lily De Mitri and Dave Plant, the astonishing piece of artwork has been part funded by the Southeast Communities Rail Partnership with a community funding contribution from Wealden District Councillor, Martyn Everitt.
The artists also had support from Coppards who supplied the lift platform for Lily and Dave to work from at a large discount.
The impressive project, which has been almost a year in the planning, also features ideas suggested by Crowborough young people at two planning workshops earlier in the year. And Conan Doyle’s great nephew, Richard Doyle also had some input, suggesting some of his favourite novels to include in the artwork.
Lily explained how the project came about. She told Crowborough News: “We moved to the area two years ago and at the time I didn’t know about the link with Conan Doyle. The more I learnt, the more I researched, the more I thought we ought to celebrate it more.”
Lily who has also worked on the Jarvis Brook skatepark with a group of young people and also the Artytime Scrapstore, said she spotted the wall and set about getting permission from the owners and also a grant application from the Rail Partnerships funding to improve stations and their surroundings.
With all the boxes ticked, the real challenge began. Lily said: “I think this has to be one of the most complex of projects I’ve worked on – for several reasons. The condition of the wall was bad so we had to do quite a lot of repair and there’s a fence very close to the wall and car parking.”
She explained the site restrictions meant normal mural processes – including using a grid pattern and having space to regularly step back to ensure the artwork perspectives and imagery is correct – could not be used.
Instead cutting edge technology came to their aid. “We found these googles which use technology to enable you to see your design against the wall backdrop. It was fantastic though Dave did look extremely funny – they covered half his face!”
Amazingly the mural was completed in under seven days with the final step being the top layer of varnish to protect the artwork from the light.
And Lily, who is also a Crowborough town councillor, is delighted with the results. She said: “When we moved here we were struck by the sense of community in this town. We were outsiders but everyone has been so friendly. I have lived in lots of places around the world but here the community is so strong.”
She added she hoped the mural, which has drawn a flood of positive comments and plaudits on social media, would be something that would bring people together and strengthen that community further. But she also hopes it will inspire.
“I think it’s important that as a community we don’t forget our history, our roots. Conan Doyle was a brilliant man, not just an author, and we should celebrate that. But I also hope it inspires people, not only to get involved in their community, but also to believe in themselves and their ability to be creative.”