Upfest at Tanybwlch?

by The Curious Scribbler

Tanybwlch beach, looking north to Aberystwyth

Inspired by the video I described in the preceding blog, I walked Tanybwlch beach again yesterday, enjoying the blazing sun and balmy breeze. The sea was almost waveless, clear and the deepest blue, and the shore, as usual, was almost deserted.  I saw a family at the water’s edge, and a couple of people walking their dogs, and I passed one man who was seated watching his three terriers each of which was energetically digging its own hole in the sand.  The sea, cracked only by a single ripple approaching the shore, looked like shot silk.

Three digging dogs

The graffiti artists on the concrete sea wall have been back and have further embellished the design which appeared on the drone video I had watched.  The letters NHS are no longer brutalist boxy letters, now sporting serifs and curliques of a playful nature.  The seated figure, on closer inspection, is a dead-eyed Boris debating whether or whether not to save the NHS.  To the right are a series of weird heads, two gowned and masked blue front-liners, and then a group perhaps the public, some in outline,  one with a covid mask.  There is more wall yet to be painted, I think there is more work to be done there.

Graffiti at Tanybwlch beach

Graffiti at Tanybwlch beach

The right-hand end of the mural, yet to be coloured in?

The whole mural at Tanybwlch beach, possibly yet to be completed

It seems surprising now, that no-one has formerly set about embellishing this long wall.  Here is a canvas comparable with some of the large murals created for the Upfest Festival in Bristol, and like many of those, it is on a topical theme.  I have just noticed that the latest Upfest, which brings together British and international artists, was scheduled to take place this weekend,  30 May- 1 June 2020.   I presume that like everything else, it has been postponed, though this is not confirmed on their website.

This blog has previously reported from Upfest, and I hope to go again.

 

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3 thoughts on “Upfest at Tanybwlch?

  1. Talking of saving the NHS, here are my thoughts during lockdown, celebrating those in the front, if we’ve had the final Thursday night clapping.

    I’m not a hero… I’m me

    I’m not a hero who saves lives,
    Like a doctor or nurse.
    I’m not a soldier or in the police,
    Quite the reverse,
    I don’t fight for world peace.
    I don’t do good things
    Like emptying bins.
    I’ve never been in a fight.
    I’m not a teacher
    Who is clever and bright.
    I don’t lead the blind, giving them sight,
    Acting as their eyes.
    I don’t work late at night.
    I’m not rich or wise.
    I haven’t discovered a vaccine
    To win a Nobel Prize.
    I can’t sing or cook.
    I’ve never written a book.
    I don’t get paid lots of money
    For the way that I look.

    I’m not a champion, like a boxer.
    I’m not a sailor or tailor.
    I didn’t paint the Mona Lisa.
    I’ve never been to China.
    I don’t deliver letters.
    I’m not a farmer who grows food,
    Or a brewer who has brewed
    Things to drink.
    I don’t think
    Like a politician or musician.
    I don’t work with my hands
    Like an electrician or magician.
    I’ve never watched the Simpsons.
    I’ve never seen the Giant’s Causeway,
    Or climbed the Eiffel Tower.
    I’ve never met the Queen,
    And never grown a flower.
    I don’t make the news.
    I’m not famous for being famous,
    Like people you see on TV.

    I’m an ordinary person –
    I’m me.

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