Involving children in the process is definitely the most rewarding way to create a mural, for me and for them. There are lots of ways you can involve your children, be it brainstorming, designing, filling in or guided painting. Most of the school murals I have painted involved the pupils at some stage, often they draw out ideas to inspire me or decide on a theme as a class, but I have not included images of those projects in this section.

The image above is from my favourite school project. It was commissioned by Ceder Hall, a special school in Essex who wanted to do something creative with their twinned school in Bangalore.

The pupils in Bangalore painted landscapes which I knitted together and transposed to create the background of the mural. Cedar Hall pupils then each drew a plant or creature, and I got them all down to simple outlines and copied them in to the mural. The children then came out in groups of 3 or so and painted their designs.

I wasn't sure if it was going to work compositionally as there were so many elements to it, but the result was truly beautiful. A lot of the children were surprised at what they had achieved, and they were all extremely proud of themselves when it was finished, as well they might be! Doing something so permanent together really brought the best out of everyone, and I hope the experience and achievement will stay with them as they move up through the school and beyond.

Below are images of this mural as well as other collaborative school projects.