It was great to be contacted by Northern to see if I could create a new image to brighten up the bridge at Victoria station, Manchester. 

I have built up a great relationship with Northern & they have a great respect & understanding for my condition which really helps me.

I forgot how big the bridge actually was until I was stood on it. This was easily my biggest project to date & I was really excited to get creating something special for it. 

The brief was just to create something that was Manchester focussed & to bring some colour to the dark bridge.

My initial thoughts for this project was getting different angles of the Victoria station building and merging them in an abstract way. I then thought that it would be great to create a collection of our cities buildings & showcase some of Manchester’s iconic architecture.

I wanted to get mostly photos from the area around the station but I did branch out as far as the central library. 

It was Just before Christmas so there was a lot of Christmas decorations on the buildings, which I had to avoid as these images going up was going to be permanent. 

Out of the 250 photos I took, I narrowed it down to the 11 I thought would work best for my idea. This was done by uploading all the images to my phone from my camera, then spending hours going back & fourth eliminating until I had the final 11.

I wanted the finished images to show some of Manchester’s iconic buildings & various modern & old architecture – but be vibrant & very simplistic in design. 

The finished images are portrait views of the iconic buildings with a cloudy vibrant sky. All of the pictures lined up next to each other give a feel of an abstract Manchester skyline.

I am very pleased on how this collection looks & that it brings colour to the once dull bridge. I really hope the vibrant colours help project a positive mood on the people commuting and using the station. 

The #iconicmanchester collection include:

• Victoria Station
• The Printworks
• Hotel Indigo
• The Manchester Football Museum
• Withy Grove Stores
• Manchester Central Library 
• Basil Chambers 
• Hotel Gotham
• Sashas Hotel
• Debenhams 
• One Angel Square, Co-operative Group HQ

Please see ‘ICONIC MANCHESTER COLLECTION’ in Gallery.

Yesterday’s launch was very nerve wrecking & involved a lot of medication to get through it (& a few Irish coffees) but I was very pleased & proud I made it there. 

The small unveiling had 15 attendees which included; senior staff representatives from Northern, The Queens High Sheriff of Manchester Diane Hawkins JP DL, Lorraine Carter MBE DL. 

I also invited representatives of the charities which I have supported through my art donations over the past few years – who have become good friends; Rachel Walker NSPCC, Lisa Dunnington RMHC, Maggie Oliver TMOF.

The Unveiling began with a few words from both Northern & then the High Sheriff which was very positive & uplifting.

This was a very moving life experience & something I will never forget. I want to thank everyone who came & showed support & let you know how important it was to me.

I also want to thank all the staff at Northern who have supported me with this project & for once again trusting me to bring my artistic vision to yet another station.

The artwork was printed & installed by @Ceejays who have done an amazing job.

To read the press release from Northern please follow the link:

https://media.northernrailway.co.uk/news/manchester-skyline-celebrated-in-huge-new-artwork-at-victoria-station