An eye-catching mural in the centre of Macclesfield has been completed.

The dazzling artwork on a four-sided electricity block, located in the Churchill Way carpark, was intended to be finished not long after it started in February 2020.

However, lockdown put the project on pause less than a third of the way done. In that time, the artist behind the 35 metres square masterpiece even had a baby.

Artist Becca Smith (40), of south Macclesfield designed the colourful wall painting for our town.

Macclesfield Town Council gave her the job as she had previously completed a stunning mural on Park Green, and managed the Park Green Underpass Brick Project.

"To start, I created some designs based on the brief, which was to work with local residents, to create images which didn't exactly disguise the building but merge into the heritage of the area," she said.

"So I first thought, well this wasn't always a carpark. There were streets called Silk St and Cotton St, with their own communities.

"A lot of people have memories of what was here, like a mineral water bottling factory. But it was quite difficult to find photos, and there were no aerial photos. So I took my cue from that and started the job."

The west facing wall, seen by the Water Street residents, tried to replicate what the view would be if the carpark wasn't there, such as incorporating St Paul's Church on Brook St and a Georgian mill.

This wall also featured nods to Macclesfield countryside and popular culture - with an allusion to the album cover of Joy Division's debut album Unknown Pleasures.

Other walls which had iconic signifiers of our town included silk moths tucking into a mulberry bush at the Heritage Centre on the north facing wall, and an idyllic view loosely based on Mill Street from Market Place on the south wall.

The artist designed the mural to be viewed from a distance, which included contouring her artwork to bricks and doorhandles on the electricity substation.

"To achieve the 3D effect of my work, it is about contrast," explained Becca.

"So I used a dark neutral tone in the background, to make the brighter and lighter colours pop out,"

Three lockdowns, ten litres of paint, and 80 work hours later, the mum-of-one's work is complete.

The area around Macc was also incorporated, with Sutton Common and Croker Hill also on the north side of the piece.

Becca is excited to work on more street murals, to which she is open for commissions for.

"Art offers not just an escape from reality, but an escape to reality in a way," she added.

"I think creativity is one of the most important states for humans to be in. I think it is really essential to mental health and wellbeing.

"The response from the public has been amazing. I've had families with the kids coming up to me so shocked and saying 'Wow. I didn't know you could do art as a full-time job.'

"I've also had people asking me for parking charges because I've been in a hi-viz jacket haha."

The Macclesfield mural artist's next job is for the Barnaby Festival and hopes to create public art for both Congleton and Stockport Town Councils.

You can follow the Macc artist on Facebook. Her Twitter is @BeccaSmithArt and her Instagram is @beccasmith_art.

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