Adding a splash of colour to the concept of a green funeral.
By Isabel Brough
This week sees the start of an exciting transformation here at Divine Ceremony. Local mural artist and environmentalist, Farrah Fortnam, will be working her magic on the unloved wall in our car park. Currently a lurid-blue, functional partition, it will soon be an eye-catching, vibrant artwork bringing interest and colour to our corner of Bishopston.
Farrah is an established Bristol artist, known for her striking brush-stroke murals and her passion for conservation, which she weaves into her work. She has painted and sketched since childhood, and specialises in large canvases, but lockdown saw her choose a somewhat unusual and challenging surface - her house! Painted houses in Bristol are not new, indeed they are one of the things Bristol is known for, but Farrah’s distinctive and colourful style was quickly noticed. Since then, she has enjoyed a steady stream of commissions from Upfest to the Propyard as well as homes and businesses and a couple of unicorns!
Bristol has a long-standing culture of street art, both formal and informal, and a strong environmental conviction. Farrah marries these two distinctive Bristolian traits in her own bold and colourful style. She uses her art to raise awareness of the human impact on the natural world and in particular deforestation and its domino effect on reliant species. We are very excited to be working with Farrah because there is so much synergy in our approaches. When we asked her about her work she said: “We are living in a time when difficult questions need to be asked, and answered. I hope my work can start conversations and elicit a reaction, at the same time as bringing joy and positivity.” Not surprising then that Farrah is such a natural fit for Divine Ceremony, where we are also committed to joy and positivity as well as encouraging debate about the environmental impact of our choices, both in life and in death.
Farrah will be working with a palette of greens, blues and corals and the mural will take shape as she paints. With a general theme in mind, she starts with her paintbrush and sees where it takes her. We can’t wait to see what appears. Stay tuned for updates on progress as the mural develops.
To find out more about Farrah and her wonderful work, visit her website.