Artist's wall of fame

Aug 1 2002 By Helen Harper, Caernarfon And Denbigh Herald

AN acclaimed artist from Talysarn is currently working on a new mural featuring an array of famous names from Wales.

Wil Jones, head of art at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, is wellknown for his portraits of actors and famous faces such as Bryn Terfel and Norman Wisdom.

But his current project is painting a mural for Cofi Roc, which will be opening shortly on Y Maes in Caernarfon.

Wil said: "I don't normally do this kind of thing, I usually do portraits.

"I have just finished one of Sir Tom Courtney and I am working on one of Rhys Ifans.

"I am doing this in way of a change.

"The mural will be of famous Welsh people from the world of entertainment, but I'm not going to give too much away.

"It has been a while since I have done a mural, and physically it is a lot more difficult than I remembered, maybe I am getting old.

"The whole thing is tri-pic, in three segments and is 4.5m across by 1.4m high."

When the work on the mural is finished, Wil is going to submit his painting of Sir Tom Courtney into a competition judging the best portraits of actors, and if the portrait of Notting Hill star, Rhys Ifans is completed in time, he might also sumbit that painting too.

He added: "Tom Courtney likes it a lot.

"I painted it for the competition and that's why he was good enough to sit for me.

"It would be nice if the portrait of Rhys Ifans could be found a permanent home locally, somewhere in Wales, Rhys would like that.

"He hasn't seen what I've done yet and I have nowhere near finished yet. I might paint two of him, I'll see how it goes."

Gilly Haradence, manager of Cofi Roc, said: "The mural will be a fantastic reflection of W elsh culture promoting W ales.

"I think he is doing a fantastic job, and people will come far and wide just to see the mural."