Melissa White Hand Painted Interiors: The Rolling Hills of Albion

A commission to design a wallpaper
for the Albion pub, Hastings

The Albion wallpaper by Melissa White

Whilst Hastings Old Town has been heralded the new Shoreditch-on-sea The Albion pub at its heart had become a rather dilapidated boozer in need of an update. Straddling pedestrianised George Street and the seafront prom it was built as the Albion Hotel complete with stables in the 1830’s.

The Albion pub before its 2015 renovation

The new owners, Adam Daly and Bob Tipler have recently been revitalised Hastings’ music scene by establishing popular music festivals in a town rich in musicians and aficionados. Now, in need of a musical HQ, they have taken on this ambitious transformation and engaged local artisans to give the venue something unique.

When I was approached to propose a wallpaper design that epitomised the spirit of Albion I was delighted to take on a project in my hometown.

The seafront bar before renovations

The space for the wallpaper was high-up between the room's panelled walls and a cornice so it made sense to design a landscape to run around the room as a frieze.

Drawing inspiration from 18th century painted wall hangings and tapestry cartoons I designed a bucolic scene of rolling hills and towering trees. A watery blue/green colour palette was chosen to keep the bar where it would hang, light and airy with an indirect nod to its seafront location.

My references had been populated with exotic birds and distant Italianate buildings so I removed those to make the scene look more like home. A windmill, a bridge and, as requested by the clients, our local Hastings castle in homage to 1066 Country.

Detail showing Hastings Castle

At early design meetings we had envisaged hunting scenes with wild boar, dogs and all sorts going on but as we progressed a calmer more serene mood developed with animals going about their business unhindered. Deer and stags, a dashing hare and a rabbit (spot him in the hedges).

Detail showing stags and a rabbit

The sky is populated with birds whilst a tawny owl surveys all from his tree.

Detail showing crows and an owl

The Process:

As with much of my design work, I collect my ideas and references together in Photoshop where I create the composition and the repeat (in this case a simple horizontal repeat). Then it's off to my studio to translate into paint. I do this initially using acetates and an overhead projector to guide me with the general structure of the design. then I work from sketches and references to complete the detail.

Studio setup

The scene was painted with my favourite fresco secco technique whereby I build up a plastered surface over hessian and paint on this before rubbing back and distressing the paintwork to "settle in" the patina.

At studio painting the design

Finally the flexible substrate is attached to a plywood panel to reinforce it.

Adding the finishing touches to the artwork mounted on its panel

Next the panel goes off to be professionally scanned in London and comes back to me as a huge digital file. Back in front of my computer I set to work making any final adjustments to the paintwork and mending the repeat so that it joins up perfectly left to right.

A few proofs later and the client has selected the more muted of the colourways options.

colour proofs

I then scale the file up to its final 140cm height (having painted it at 60%) and zap it over to my fabulous printers who work their magic on it. A few days later it arrives at The Albion in a continuous 20m long roll of beautifully printed wallpaper. The finish we went for was a lustrous mica paper and it was expertly hung just days before the grand re-opening.

Mica finish wallpaper being hung in the seafront bar

As you enter the airy seafront bar the undulating scene is both unexpected and enchanting.

Wallpaper in situ

There is still work being carried out at the Albion. Local metal artist extraordinaire Leigh Dyer, who made the bar stools and zinc bar tops is currently creating impressive chandeliers for the coved ceilings. He also made the front signage based on the artwork I was commissioned to design for the pub's branding: