Old-style makeover for Normans

Monday 09 June 2014

A group of artists have turned one of St Helier’s brightest buildings to stone.

Local artists Matt Daly and Anna Frances Le Moine worked all weekend with UK Pen Pushers - Bob Motown and Nick Marsh - to transform the yellow façade of Normans in Commercial Street and give it a granite effect.

Matt said: “We formulated an idea which fitted in with the yellow paint and the granite – a twist on the modern and the old.

“The public’s reaction has been brilliant – obviously it’s a bit controversial – the yellow, the fact we are adapting it somehow has made it really interesting.”

Matt likes a big challenge having painted the Island’s largest mural in Providence Street in 2012 to create something more eye-catching than the flood alleviation engineering project. Although this job was about half the size he said it was quite a challenge for the team who had never worked together before to get the rendered building all covered up in just a weekend.

The mural is a taster for Skipton Open Studios 2014 which launches on Friday 20 June and is now in its seventh year.  Artists and art lovers will get a chance to meet when the artists open up their studios and galleries over two weekends. 

The Pen Pushers have previously worked on projects at the London Olympic Park and the V & A Museum.