Murals by Sarah

14/06/2026

Ok, I lied about not posting every day, because here's another update on the Latton/Cricklade/A419 mural. I'm switching things up a bit and going with a little video this time.

The main reason I wanted to post, is to again thank all the people who came along to say hi today, it's lovely to have so many visitors! And nice to see everyone being so positive about their new local landmark in progress.

And, in a similar vein, I also wanted to thank everyone who has taken the trouble to follow my page over the last couple of days, as this morning I hit 1,000 followers - whoop!

13/06/2026

Don't worry, I'm not going to post a mural update every day, at least not until I have some more interesting progress to show (I am still on the background elements, sky and bushes - which by their very nature are a bit dull! If they weren't, they would be in the foreground instead, I guess :) )

But I just wanted to post today to thank all the people who made special trips to come and say hi (or who tooted and waved from the 419, there were quite a few of those too!)

It was especially nice to meet Deb, who has been following my page for a while and often leaves lovely comments.

And also Eric!

Eric is the Cricklade town cryer, and he walked some distance to come and visit me in his full regalia, complete with bell :) He tells me he has recently turned 90, and boy I hope I am as fit and sharp witted when I get to that age! Such a lovely man.

He did have to put me straight about one thing though, I've been saying that the barn I am painting is in Cricklade. Apparently it is actually in the village of Latton. Consider me corrected :)

12/06/2026

Oof, that was a long and tiring first day on the Cricklade barn! Just got home. So tired :D

It doesn't look like much yet! I spent a fair bit of today getting to grips with the cherry picker, working out where everything in the design is going to go (there have been some new grates added into the barn wall since I photographed it, so I've had to move some key parts around to avoid them), and panicking because the cherry picker can't fit through the bollards at the top of the path, so I can't get to the last 40 feet or so section of the wall :O

But, no worries, we may have a solution for that problem, and I've decided not to worry about it until next week :)

I painted in most of the sky sections today, at least (a 7 shades of blue ombre, which you can't see at all in this photo but trust me, it's there :) ), and my lovely other half Jay turned up to give me some moral support, and also blocked in some lower parts of the wall for me which was a great help.

He also brought me some nifty little tray/bucket things to hang on the rails of the cherry picker basket to keep my paints in, so I don't keep tripping over them on the floor part and don't have to bend down to pick them up constantly. Game changer!

Tomorrow I will start to get some greenery in. I would like to have all the backgrounds finished by Sunday evening (apart from the section of wall I can't reach )

11/06/2026

If you are local, you probably recognise this big beast of a barn, it's right by the side of the A419 just before the Cricklade turnoff, if you're approaching Swindon from Cirencester/Gloucester way.

Well, starting tomorrow, I will be giving it a bit of a face lift - can't wait 😮

This will be the biggest mural I've painted yet, at over 140 feet long. I've already packed over 150 cans of paint and that's just for the first weekend!

Wish me luck, peeps, and give me a toot and a wave if you drive past :)

05/06/2026

Happy Wiltshire Day everyone!

I really love the Wilts flag, it has more personality than most flag designs :) I would love to paint a mural of it one day.

01/06/2026

I forgot that everyone painting at Upfest gets a little spot on their website. This is mine, what do you reckon, does it sum me up?

31/05/2026

Had a cracking day at Upfest in Bristol yesterday!

The weather was dry and sunny but not TOO hot (although, that said, a woman painting near me used blu-tac to hold up a stencil and it melted!). I got to see some old friends and make some new ones. And all the passers by seemed to love Mort the Norty Alien :)

Mort was lots of fun to paint, his little face where he has been caught heading out to get up to no good :D I like to think it's his mum operating that searchlight. "Mort!!! You get back here right NOW young man!!!" :)

Painted this one relatively quickly (for me) and so still had plenty of time afterwards to have a long (over 25,000 steps!), foot-killing walk around the festival area with my better half, checking out all the new murals. Photo of teeny tiny me with one of my favourites at the end. Going to have a lazy recovery day today :)

Favourite comment of the day, an older chap caught my attention as I was just finishing up and said "I want you to know that your painting has made EVERYONE here happy, thank you". And that, folks, is why we do it.

29/05/2026

Just a reminder, I'll be painting at the To***co Factory in Bedminster, Bristol tomorrow for the final weekend of Upfest 26.

Very sad that our own Swindon Paint Fest has been postponed and won't be going ahead this year :( and same for Cheltenham :(

So thanks to Bristol's Upfest for not only happening, but being a huge success, and also giving lil' ol' me a spot to paint!

29/05/2026

28/05/2026

I popped into (Swindon) town today in my lunchbreak and spotted that the painted panels I was working on last month, have now been installed onto the gates at GWR park. Looking good in the sunshine!

I hope that the various children and others who helped to paint the faces onto the crowd scenes, get to see their artwork in all its glory now that it has been put into place :)

I've also added a couple of close ups below of the details on the upper panels, as I don't think I have shared those on here yet.

So, yes, just to summarise, I painted the upper panels in their entirety, and all of the background and clothing/hats/hairstyles etc on the bottom panels. And then the faces were all added by visitors to the Blossom Festival in May (with artists aged 4 to 80 joining in, it was a fun day!)

Thanks again to the parish council for such an enjoyable job.