A Whaddon street artist has given up his time to paint a mural on the new outdoor classroom of the village pre-school.
Tim Shuker-Yates – who uses the tag Abide – specialises in creating spray paint murals, with a small group of people he met through his youth work projects in Cambridgeshire.
He told the Crow: “I’ve been a youth worker and counsellor working with adolescents for eight years – and I got into street art through that.
“A bunch of lads who came to the youth club I worked at wanted to learn, so we all learnt about it together. Now they’re in their 20s and we still get together and make art. I really enjoy it because it allows me to clear my headspace.”
When Tim – who has lived in Whaddon for 12 years – sees a wall or building he wants to work on he asks permission.
Fortunately when he approached staff at Bumpkins Nursery – which has two day nursery settings in the village, where they provide nursery care for children aged three months to five years – manager Jaena Nabi jumped at the chance for their new outdoor classroom project.
“It was serendipity really, just the right time for me to ask and be able to help them out.
“I worked on it for two days during the heatwave.
“I don’t think they quite knew what to expect when I turned up with 35 spray paint cans and began by spraying the whole thing grey, but by the end they were really pleased with it.
“They were a lovely bunch, and I’m glad I could help.”
Bumpkins nursery manager Jaena said: “We thought it would be perfect for the start-up of our Nature Rangers classroom if he created a woodland theme to fit in with our project.
“We are so overwhelmed by Tim’s work we wanted to share it with everyone.
“It’s amazing how something like an old portacabin can be transformed and make our Nature Rangers project for the children come alive!
“We are now very excited about setting up a nature rangers outside classroom at pre-school with lots of activities based in the outdoor local environment.”
To view Tim’s work, or to contact him if you’re interested in having a mural designed, see his Instagram page at instagram.com/ab._.de
For more on Bumpkins go to bumpkinsnursery.co.uk.
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