Church Street / Byres Road
ESME MACINTYRE
I am an illustrator and printmaker based in Glasgow. Since graduating from Illustration at GSA in 2019 I have worked on a variety of illustration commissions as well as creating woodcut, linocut and silkscreen prints for sale at art markets and galleries. My work tends to be based on everyday scenes of people and places in a cheerful, engaging style. Regarding mural experience, I have painted a garden mural (https://esmemacintyre.com/garden-mural/) which incorporated aspects of the owner’s favourite place, the Isles of Scilly, and I would love to gain more experience in public art. I really enjoy how murals and urban art engage with local communities by reflecting the local environment, and also provide accessibility to art in previously overlooked spaces.
About the Artist
The Proposal
My two ideas are based on nature as I love pockets of green spaces in a city to breathe, and Byres road (although being close to the Botanics and Kelvingrove) is quite a built-up, busy road. So sketch 1 is of bugs and butterflies on flowers, as insects are generally undervalued and I like the idea that they have their whole own ecosystem living amongst our own. This design would magnify and draw attention to their existence. Sketch 2 is of a cyclist passing through a park (in the sketch it is Glasgow Green but for this project I would amend it to be Kelvingrove) as this is a part of my almost-daily cycle that I really enjoy. Especially with spring around the corner, I find parks hopeful, happy places and enjoy seeing how people use them in their own ways.
