The Mural by Chris Rutterford, Edinburgh
The Mural
At the start of the 2013 Edinburgh festival, Chris set up a painting residency in the Tron Kirk with 14 blank mural panels. The Tron Kirk was then operating as a lively bar and music venue. His goal was to paint a mural that captured the spirit of the traditional Hogmanay party in a huge crowd mural, filling it with real people.
In his mind, to complete the undertaking, he needed to exhibit the qualities of Scotland's national animal, the unicorn. Focus, generosity, faith and gritty determination. He had his eyes on the prize.
Clad in a red top hat and a kilt he worked from 10am to 3am for an entire month and painted over 650 portraits of real guests, chatting affably as he went. Real oasis of focus and calm in the melee of the festival. He put a sign above his head that read "If you want to be in the party, tap me on the shoulder", and yes, everyone in this painting did exactly that.
He would hold up his iPad and say "You are at a fabulous party, having an awesome time (just don't look at me)". Visitors had free reign to pose as they wanted. After the festival finished he took the mural back to the studio and added 2000 more portraits from photos he had taken.
This painting has been waiting for it's moment to shine for nearly ten years, and now has a home.
In 2018 North Bridge was partially covered by ugly hoardings as major structural repairs were undertaken on the bridge. Local businesses struggled under the weight of the hoardings and a major central artery of Edinburgh was being crippled by the weight of the infrastructure.
In 2022 Chris was asked by Rapyd, an e-commerce company specifically focussed on empowering small businesses, to paint a mural that could transform the hoardings and help the struggling local traders.
Edinburgh city council and transport convener Scott Arthur threw his weight behind the project, and Balfour Beattie helped facilitate
the installation. Chris retrofitted a new spectacular Unicorn to the mural illustrating his inspiration, his fuel for the painting and his pride in being Scottish.
A new threshold for North Bridge from the Royal Mile was born.
Hogmanay came home and it was like it had never left.
The Mural by Chris Rutterford, Edinburgh
The Mural
At the start of the 2013 Edinburgh festival, Chris set up a painting residency in the Tron Kirk with 14 blank mural panels. The Tron Kirk was then operating as a lively bar and music venue. His goal was to paint a mural that captured the spirit of the traditional Hogmanay party in a huge crowd mural, filling it with real people.
In his mind, to complete the undertaking, he needed to exhibit the qualities of Scotland's national animal, the unicorn. Focus, generosity, faith and gritty determination. He had his eyes on the prize.
Clad in a red top hat and a kilt he worked from 10am to 3am for an entire month and painted over 650 portraits of real guests, chatting affably as he went. Real oasis of focus and calm in the melee of the festival. He put a sign above his head that read "If you want to be in the party, tap me on the shoulder", and yes, everyone in this painting did exactly that.
He would hold up his iPad and say "You are at a fabulous party, having an awesome time (just don't look at me)". Visitors had free reign to pose as they wanted. After the festival finished he took the mural back to the studio and added 2000 more portraits from photos he had taken.
This painting has been waiting for it's moment to shine for nearly ten years, and now has a home.
In 2018 North Bridge was partially covered by ugly hoardings as major structural repairs were undertaken on the bridge. Local businesses struggled under the weight of the hoardings and a major central artery of Edinburgh was being crippled by the weight of the infrastructure.
In 2022 Chris was asked by Rapyd, an e-commerce company specifically focussed on empowering small businesses, to paint a mural that could transform the hoardings and help the struggling local traders.
Edinburgh city council and transport convener Scott Arthur threw his weight behind the project, and Balfour Beattie helped facilitate
the installation. Chris retrofitted a new spectacular Unicorn to the mural illustrating his inspiration, his fuel for the painting and his pride in being Scottish.
A new threshold for North Bridge from the Royal Mile was born.
Hogmanay came home and it was like it had never left.