Seven-year-old Eva Rose Ross from Paisley has been announced as the face of the next Paisley First giant mural.
Renowned local artist Caroline Gormley will team up with artist Alexander Guy to complete the next mural in the Paisley First Wall Series.
Eva Rose was picked following the town’s Buddie competition, asking young people under 18 in Paisley to send in photographs in their best Buddie pose, as previously sketched by Caroline.
The youngster will be commemorated on the next giant mural on the gable wall next to Allan’s Snack Bar on Storie Street, a popular fish and chip shop in the town.
Caroline said:” I thought Eva Rose’s photograph was great. It was very natural…and I liked her attitude. She just seemed so carefree and happy.”
“This will be a great piece of public art. It’s really for the community.”
“It’s not just a nice picture. It will show how children are the future of Paisley and how younger generations will uphold the town’s heritage in the future.”
Eva Rose, who attends St Fergus Primary School, said: “I love Paisley and I am always telling everyone how great the town is.”
“I loved the Lions last year and now I can’t believe that I have won the competition to be on the wall.”
Proud mum Lee-Ann, who runs Uptown Barbers in the town’s High Street, said:” We are thrilled that Eva Rose has been chosen to be the face of the next mural. We are so happy for her.”
“She is a proud Paisley Buddie and always loves getting involved in anything going on in the town.”
Work is due to get underway on the wall at Storie Street on Monday 20th March, with the project expected to take around two weeks to complete.
Paisley First’s Melanie Hughes who is leading the art murals project said: “We’ve had some fabulous entries from young people across Renfrewshire. It’s great to see the community getting behind our murals and local children taking an interest in the town. There will be more community involvement in the future.”
Photo: The Kingfisher on Storie Street
This mural depicts a beautiful kingfisher perched next to a ball of yarn, while the distinctive Coats Memorial Church appears in the background.
The work highlights one of the town’s most famous and relatively unknown sons, Alexander Wilson, as well as one of the town’s iconic buildings and some local wildlife.
The kingfisher, a bird that can sometimes be spotted on the Cart, represents the life and work of Alexander Wilson, who is credited with establishing ornithology as a science. Originally a weaver poet, Alexander Wilson moved to America where he studied wildlife and travelled widely, documenting and drawing hundreds of illustrations of birds on his way.
The Coats Memorial Church was built in memory of Thomas Coats, founder of the town’s biggest thread firm.
This mural is designed to amalgamate just some of Paisley’s rich historical and cultural past.
Paisley artists Mark Worst, 26, and Ross Dinnett, 25, painted the three-storey mural after undergoing special safety training specifically for the job.
Mark said: “At 16m, this is one of the highest murals I’ve ever painted and it’s certainly the most unusual. Ross and I have had to do training to operate the scissors lift to get up and down the gable end. “