Region's tower-ing work of art

A yellow-tailed black cockatoo perched on a tree branch is rapidly taking shape on the Beachmere Water Tower as part of Unitywater’s artwork trail.

Almost 1000 residents helped select the design, which captures the local wildlife and community appeal of the beachside village.

The artists behind the work are happy with how it is coming together and have shared some of their secrets.

Favourite

This is the fourth design The Brightsiders artists, Jordan Bruce and Steven Falco, have painted for Unitywater. Mr Falco said Beachmere was his favourite to date.

“It’s more than putting a painting on a wall,” he says. “We want to give the community something that gives people energy and makes them proud of their environment.”

Mr Bruce said picking a favourite from the work they had done on the Point Cartwright Reservoir, the Kallangur Water Tower, the King Street Water Tower and the Beachmere Water Tower was difficult.

Great heights

“There’s been some amazing locations and great heights,” he said. “Kallangur was amazing because of the height.

“King Street was very special to me because I painted my daughter on that one and Beachmere is something special because our art practice is coming together and we’re refining our techniques.”

Mr Falco said the squiggles, triangles and other shapes they drew on the water tower fascinated passers-by because they often thought it was graffiti.

By design

“Those marks are unique reference points for where the artwork should land,” he said.

The artist said that, particularly on a cylinder and when they were looking up, they wanted to avoid the artwork distorting so the shapes acted as a guide.

“We’ve had people talk to us about paint by numbers but that is not completely correct,” Mr Falco said.

“Those symbols help us get the artwork up but everything else is done by eye.”

Click through this gallery of artwork on Unitywater facilities.

Grand artwork

The pair uses quality house paint and spray paint from Germany to ensure the artwork can stand up to the elements.

Mr Bruce has painted what is termed ‘grand’ artwork – anything more than about 10 to 15 metres long or tall – for about six years, and Mr Falco’s first grand work was the Yelarbon silos near Goondiwindi.

Mr Falco thanked the community for showing their appreciation via a wave or a beep of their car horn.

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