An Ode to Time, mural by Brontë Naylor completed Jan 2025.
This extraordinary large-scale mural came about as part of the long-standing relationship between The Big Picture Fest, Brontë Naylor and the Clyde St Arts precinct. Funded with the generous support of precinct owner David Saddington and The Big Picture Fest, the mural is located on the main sheds in the western laneway of 50 Clyde St. It was completed over a few weeks in early January 2025.
Artist Statement
An Ode to Time is a testament to our shared existence under the sun, embracing the inevitability of time. A faceless guardian stands resolute on ancient rocks, a symbol of endurance and blessing under the life-giving sun. Created for the Clyde Street Arts Precinct at a pivotal moment, the work draws from Jamie’s “Critical Mass” analogy, likening the precinct to a rock pool filled under moonlit King/Queen tides. Through bold monochromatic fields, this piece celebrates temperance, longevity and reflection, empowering the precinct’s present structures and community to step fully into their potential while honoring their timeless connection to place.
ARTIST: Brontë Naylor
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Katerina Skoumbas
FUNDING: The Big Picture Fest Newcastle and David Saddington
MATERIALS/EWP: Red Belly Brush Co, Access Hire Australia and Dulux Australia
SPECIAL THANK YOU: Auspicious Arts Project, Jamie Redding, Martin Tauts and Braddon Snape
‘ANGEL’ REFERENCE PHOTO: @its.chrisbrown
MODEL: @michelle.gearin
CREEK SCREENSHOT @laurieoxenford
MURAL PHOTOS: Ben Adams
Brontë Naylor
I am an early-career multidisciplinary artist working across so-called Australia in expanded painting modalities, which include spatial installation, ceramics, photography, performance, and digital media. Central to my work is the concept of 'displacement'—exploring how materials, resources, ownership, ideas, and histories intersect and blur within a piece and a place. I aims to collapse time within my work, holding the past, present, and future in adjacent, layered ways. Through practice-led research, I navigate between my speculative studio practice and the Westernized structural hierarchies of Antipodean culture.
My work includes over thirty large-format paintings held in private collections, the University of Newcastle’s Public Art Collection, and various local councils across Australia. A select few pieces have also been collected internationally.
Day Moon
Studio noticing; The moon follows me. Even into the bright blue day. I say goodbye to it, and the next morning it’s there to greet me as I return, so I follow the moon.
Day Moon captures a moment with the moon at dawn and dusk. Leaving the studio with the moon rising and returning in the morning to greet the same moon. Both a moment that feels personal and intimate, but shared by many. A beacon that becomes a poetic presence in the sky and a channel for shared narratives.
These moments of solitude amongst the busy community of Clyde street are the times in which I slow down to notice the wax and wane and remember that everything in this world is cyclical and transient. Nothing remains still.
Words and Mural by Ellie Hannon, April 2025
Congratulations to Ellie Hannon on the Day Moon mural on her studio in Shed 8A, completed at the end of April 2025 and creating a new front yard for Upcycle Newcastle. Ellie worked closely with Upcycle and other precinct stakeholders to conceptualise the design.
It’s an incredible addition to our Public Art collection and was funded by The Big Picture Fest Newcastle and supported by Clyde St Arts staff.
IMAGES: Brydie Piaf
