Year Of The Bus – Croydon Sculpture Trail – The Streets

I made a pilgrimage to see my buses (again!), and to take some better photos.

painted sculpture of a London Routemaster bus

painted sculpture of a London Routemaster bus

painted sculpture of a London Routemaster bus

metal plaque

painted sculpture of a London Routemaster bus

Whilst out in the winter sunshine, trying to eavesdrop on what other people where saying about my work, I realised that after 25th January - my buses will disappear!  There is always a chance that someone (or an institution / company) might buy one in the charity auction in February, but as far as I'm concerned I'll never see my work again.  Please stand clear of the closing doors.

painted sculpture of a London Routemaster bus

painted sculpture of a London Routemaster bus

painted sculpture of a London Routemaster bus

a plaque

Matt Bannister

painted sculpture of a London Routemaster bus

..and finally, I discovered the other day that my work (along with all the other buses on the sculpture trail across London) also features on a tidy app for smartphones. The whole premise is that you use the GPS functions on your phone (and the app) to help you find every bus (whilst ticking them off and reading about the artist). Here are screen shots of my buses (naturally) from the Apple version. Available from the Apple App Store or Google Play

Bus App screen shot

Bus App screen shot

For a little glimpse into the past workings of my October brain, I've included here the original designs I submitted to Wild in Art. The 'Croydon Layers' design is very similar to the final bus, but the 'Surrey Street Market' one is more complicated than what eventually happened. A fast approaching deadline was the main influencing factor in making these changes, but I'm still very happy with what I eventually produced.

illustration of a bus

illustration of a bus

Year Of The Bus – Croydon Sculpture Trail – The Launch

On a sunny December day, my buses joined the trail in Croydon after a little press launch.  The 'Croydon Layers' and 'Surrey Street Market' sculptures hit the streets!

people looking at a bus sculpture

Surrey Street Market

The first bus of mine, that we came to on our mini tour of Croydon, was 'Surrey Street Market'. It's nestling in Matthew's Yard (rather appropriately), directly outside the cafe/arts venue of the same name. It's also a potato's throw from the market itself.

colourful bus sculpture

two men with a bus sculpture

three people look at a sculpture

Croydon Layers

The next stop was my bus 'Croydon Layers', which can be found directly outside the doors to the Council offices, in Mint Walk.

man standing by a bus sculpture

Transport for London have also produced some slick photographs of the buses, taken under studio conditions. They look great, and really make the colours pop out.

colourful bus sculpture

colourful bus sculpture

For more information about the Croydon trail (and plans for all the buses next year) visit either of these links:

http://www.wildinart.co.uk/the-launch-of-the-croydon-bus-trail/3479

https://www.facebook.com/transportforlondon/posts/817091588347652

Year Of The Bus - Croydon Sculpture Trail - The Studio

A couple of months ago, I was commissioned by Transport For London and Wild in Art to produce two designs for the Croydon leg of the Year of The Bus sculpture trail. This post is part one, and is all about the paint, sweat and tears that went into their decoration.

Croydon Layers by Matt Bannister

Surrey Street Market by Matt Bannister

a vacant shop unit

Having not painted one of these sculptures, I was a little unsure how the coming weeks would pan out. Given that I was doing two buses and everyone else seemed to just have one, there was no time to be wasted pretending to be an art student with all the time in the world. The first task was to choose my buses and start prepping them for all the acrylic paint to come.

Bus Sculptures

Bus 1 - Croydon Layers

The first bus was called 'Croydon Layers', and suddenly looked very complicated...

pencil artwork

Man next to a bus sculpture

Croydon Layers by Matt Bannister

Croydon Layers by Matt Bannister

Bus 2 - Surrey Street Market

Onwards with the next design, and so some more sanding and painting was needed to key the surface.

Dust Mask

Surrey Street Market -work in progress- by Matt Bannister

Surrey Street Market -work in progress- by Matt Bannister

Surrey Street Market by Matt Bannister

Surrey Street Market by Matt Bannister

Surrey Street Market by Matt Bannister

It was brilliant to finish the two designs, and see the transformation from two to three dimensions. I think it was also darkly hilarious that I was working in a former fitness shop. All that getting up and down off the floor certainly put me through a tough work out each day.

A post-creative self portrait was needed when everything was complete.

The buses were installed on the streets of Croydon today (Monday 08/12/14). For more information visit the TFL website but I will be following up this post with more pics and thoughts about how the sculptures have fitted in.