Sunflowers
Sunflowers is a historically-driven mural representing the previous surrounds of the old St. Joseph church where the now The Bean Chapel Cafe is situated in Busselton, WA. Originally surrounded by bright sunflowers, this location is now a bustling cafe.
The murals are both 4.2m high x 1.5m wide,
The brief was to reinvigorate the space with a sense of energy and brightness, to which I equalised these aspects with a sense of gritty realism.
Here's what Kellie, one of the owners, had to say:
When we contacted Tom with our idea of two giant sunflowers climbing the front pillars of our cafe, we didn't expect him to be able to bring them to life the way he did.
The final artwork surpassed anything we had hoped for and we are extremely satisfied with Tom's beautiful creation.
Thank you Tom, so much!
Details
Artist
Tom Ansell
Tom Ansell is a West-Australian-based Muralist and Visual Artist interested in and practising artworks influenced and informed by both realism and surrealism. Tom completed his BA: Visual Art at ECU in 2014 before going on to study his BA: Visual Art Hons. in 2015-16. During his Honours, Tom had his first foray into public art. It was working with local sculptor, Alex Mickle, on a large project for the City of Bunbury that Tom completed his first public artwork, a 5 m-long re-imagining of the Carbet Castle, a barque that had its demise in Koombana Bay. The finished work, titled The Rescue, can be seen at the intersection of Koombana Drive and Estuary Drive, Bunbury.
In 2016, Tom completed his first mural, a 4.5m x 4m hand-drawn piece titled Sister Cities. This piece drew on Tom's fondness for drawing and mark-making, and was completed entirely in mural markers. In the years following this, Tom had a hiatus and worked as a Tutor, completed formal training to become a Lecturer at TAFE, and continued visual art commissions on the side whilst strengthening his visual art skills through the online program of Watts Atelier.
It was in 2021 that Tom began to see the viability of pursuing murals as a full-time business. In April 2021, Tom completed Biboolboorn, a 5m x 5m depiction of an imagined saltwater paperbark tree. This was his first painted mural and led the way to open up more consistent murals and develop his business.
Tom Ansell
Tom Ansell is a West-Australian-based Muralist and Visual Artist interested in and practising artworks influenced and informed by both realism and surrealism. Tom completed his BA: Visual Art at ECU in 2014 before going on to study his BA: Visual Art Hons. in 2015-16. During his Honours, Tom had his first foray into public art. It was working with local sculptor, Alex Mickle, on a large project for the City of Bunbury that Tom completed his first public artwork, a 5 m-long re-imagining of the Carbet Castle, a barque that had its demise in Koombana Bay. The finished work, titled The Rescue, can be seen at the intersection of Koombana Drive and Estuary Drive, Bunbury.
In 2016, Tom completed his first mural, a 4.5m x 4m hand-drawn piece titled Sister Cities. This piece drew on Tom's fondness for drawing and mark-making, and was completed entirely in mural markers. In the years following this, Tom had a hiatus and worked as a Tutor, completed formal training to become a Lecturer at TAFE, and continued visual art commissions on the side whilst strengthening his visual art skills through the online program of Watts Atelier.
It was in 2021 that Tom began to see the viability of pursuing murals as a full-time business. In April 2021, Tom completed Biboolboorn, a 5m x 5m depiction of an imagined saltwater paperbark tree. This was his first painted mural and led the way to open up more consistent murals and develop his business.