Brilliant Botanicals is a public art project from Brilliant Bamboo that brings two striking new murals to Stoke-on-Trent, honouring the city’s ceramic history while exploring the creative, sustainable possibilities of bamboo.
Artists Rob Fenton and Reiko Kaneko created two different but visually connected designs, working closely throughout with Brilliant Bamboo director Gemma Thomas, from setting the brief together to shaping ideas and collaborating through feedback.
Gemma said: “We set out to do more than just create something visually impressive. We wanted to celebrate the city’s story, connect it with the future potential of bamboo and stay true to our values around sustainability and community.”
The project aimed to:
· create beautiful, thoughtful public artworks
· offer a fresh perspective on the city’s artistic and industrial heritage
· link local ceramic history to Brilliant Bamboo’s exploration of bamboo as a creative, sustainable material
· champion more environmentally responsible approaches to public art
Reiko’s mural, situated alongside the canal in Stoke, features an oversized bamboo design with bold graphic lines. Rob’s mural, close to the historic former Spode factory, was inspired by Chinoiserie patterns found in the pottery firm’s archive and the Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken ceramics are repaired with lacquer and precious metals, with gold repair lines mirroring Stoke-on-Trent’s road network.
Together, the murals share common motifs and a coordinated colour palette, creating a visual thread between them.
Sustainability is central to everything Brilliant Bamboo does, so when it came to choosing materials, the team were determined to find paints that aligned with their values. They selected KEIM mineral paints for their technical performance, environmental credentials and suitability for historic brickwork.
Rob, who is known for his large-scale mural work, said: “I learned that paint makes up 53 per cent of microplastics globally – that blew my mind. It made me realise how important it is to be more conscious of what we’re putting into our buildings and the environment.
“We were delivering murals on historic brickwork, and traditional acrylics can flake. KEIM mineral paints penetrate the surface and allow the bricks to breathe – it’s an organic product in an organic location.”
Both artists were new to mineral paints and had to adapt their usual techniques, something they embraced as part of the creative process. They also decided to share colours across the two murals to avoid waste and ensure they didn’t over-order paint.
The colour palette was carefully chosen to reflect both the natural world and the heritage of ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent, with rich earthy tones and golden highlights.
Gemma said: “Putting the metallics with the earthy tones was when the project came together. It will be interesting to see how it continues to weather, but we feel it will keep its richness because of the quality of the paint.”
Rob added: “You get a real glimmer from the gold as you drive past – it’s a beautiful colour. When I opened the drum it looked like real gold, like melted bullion.
“This big project was a learning curve for me but I am very proud of what we created together. It would have looked very different if we had used a traditional masonry paint.”
The Brilliant Botanicals project brought together three of the things Brilliant Bamboo cares most deeply about: beauty, sustainability and a strong sense of place. The murals offer a lasting legacy and a new way to experience Stoke-on-Trent’s evolving story.
Gemma said: “As a company we can’t compromise on our values and the ethos of the project, and if it expands, we’ll be advising future artists to use KEIM mineral paints. This project shows how public art can be joyful, thoughtful and values-led.”
