My uni art project has become big business (From Echo)

My uni art project has become big business

11:30am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Local News

A MURAL artist has turned a university project into a full-time business – and has a star-studded list of clients to prove it!

Katie Muldoon, 23, of Stock Road, Billericay, started Scene a Theme as part of her scenic art studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama, at the University of London.

But when she graduated with a first in June 2010 the company continued – and now it is thriving.

Katie’s client list includes big-hitters such as Ralph Lauren, Mini, Five, the BBC and a number of celebrities.

Her love of art flourished at Ursuline School in Brentwood, where she was encouraged to study it for A-level. She combined that with another of her loves – theatre – in choosing her university course, and it was there she met her business partner and best friend Janice Gorringe, from Horsham, West Sussex.

Katie said: “We realised we thought the same way about our art and had the same viewpoints so we gelled really well.

“It’s so hard to find people you click with, so we decided we had to do something with it.”

That led them to set up Scene a Theme in the second year of their course. They were commissioned to do murals and other similar projects. Their first venture was to paint a mural of jungle animals at a children’s nursery in West Sussex.

But since then, through contacts at university and recommendations, things have really taken off.

The girls had some of their work shipped to Denmark for use at the Legoland theme park.

A Toy Story ride at Disneyland Paris features their work, and an attraction at the Tower of London includes their careful airbrushing.

Recently, various images of their animals were featured on the children’s BBC show Deadly Art, while singers Elkie Brooks and Newton Faulkner have also commissioned them to help with shows.

But perhaps their most memorable job was slightly less star-studded – they were asked to do up a four-year-old boy’s bedroom in Kent after he refused to sleep in it.

One carefully designed mural of an underwater shipwreck later and the lad was finally fast asleep.

Katie said it wasn’t a difficult decision to keep the company going after graduating, and finally making a living out of it. She added: “It was difficult at first, though, as we had no budget.”

The girls have added more strings to their bow.

Katie set up their website, detailing all the services they have to offer, which also features an online shop.

They have also recently branched out into making handmade gifts, keyrings, signs and decorations.

Katie added: “Eventually we want to start employing people and generally doing more.

“I’d love to take it abroad. If there are any people who will pay for us to go to Africa to do up an orphanage or something similar, let us know.”

For more information, visit www.sceneatheme.com