Mural celebrates Bristol Wood Recycling Project’s new home

Having worked his way through 15 litres of green paint and seven litres of white, sculptor and model maker Pat Daw adds the final touches to his mural.

The artwork of looping green and white shapes graces the outer-walls of the Bristol Wood Recycling Project’s new home near Days Road, and is the latest contribution Pat has made to the Recycling Project in his three-year volunteering career.

Plans for the artwork came about as Project co-founder Ben Moss mentioned in-passing his desire to increase public interest following their challenging move to St Philip’s. Soon after, Pat had what he describes as a moment of “creative alchemy” and he quickly began plotting his design.

Bristol Wood Recycling Project on Princess Street, St Philips (image by Jaque Solomons)

The design took inspiration from the Project’s logo. With principle assistant Jaque Solomons, Pat plotted a large set of growth rings on the front wall. A side-grain pattern, as if viewing a plank of wood from its side, stretches across the 25-metre-long wall.

Pat elaborates on the technicalities of working with such a large canvas: “It’s all relatively low-tech. To plot the end-grain rings I used a makeshift compass: a four-metre baton nailed to a wooden block. It’s very real design work.”

The lettering along the side of the building is sketched freehand using a china graph pencil and is then painted by eye, but you’d be hard-pressed to notice any inconsistencies between one letter and the next.

His expert draughtsmanship comes from an expansive career in technical drawing. Primarily a sculptor, he hand-shapes wood, plastics and resins from schematic drawings. He was elected to the Royal West of England Academy (RWA)  in 2003 and his portfolio includes heraldic sculpture, public artwork and interior features.

Pat’s traditional craft is fitting of Bristol Wood Recycling Project’s business, which aims to provide Bristol’s creative communities with recycled materials. The Project recently had to leave their original home in St Philip’s in January 2018 to make way for a new Bristol University campus.

For 14 years prior to their relocation, the Bristol Wood Recycling Project served the community from a site adjacent to the old sorting office and next to the Cattle Market pub, which has since been demolished. Since 2004, their team of volunteers have saved almost 4,500 tons of wood from decaying in landfill sites.

Timber stored in the wood shop

Around the side of the newly-painted building and through a yard full of planks and pallets is their new wood shop and workshop, which are more than twice as large as those at their old site. It is bustling with volunteers, some of whom have been with the Project for more than a decade.

Removing nails from old timber pallets and applying finish to re-purposed timber, this devoted group’s hard work is visible to customers as they hunt for the perfect plank. The wood shop is lined with ready-to-use timber while the yard is packed with firewood, ready for the autumn season.

Co-founder Ben Moss

Director Kaleb Debbage (left) and volunteer Alfie Munden

Ben Moss and director Kaleb Debbage were keen to show off their latest community projects. Standing before a large, rustic table, Kaleb explained their process of collection and redesign: “This timber actually came from Templegate Electrical Supplies. We were able to lend it to be used in the East Bristol Brewery Trail last week.”

In the yard just outside the timber shed are a collection of wooden planters. These are to be fitted at Frenchay Campus as part of the University of the West of England’s new campus developments.

“We are very, very glad to be working with UWE,” Kaleb says, and Ben adds: “It’s great to have the support of one of the major universities in the city moving forward.”

Re-purposed timber used in the East Bristol Brewery Trail

For more information on the Bristol Wood Recycling Project, visit www.bwrp.org.uk