The one that didn’t get away

Think Killeshandra, think fishing.

With seven lakes dotted around the picturesque town, it’s no wonder fishing’s what naturally springs to everyone’s mind. And street artist Rob Hilken is no different.

Tasked with creating a mural for the village, Rob came up with an eye-catching design that celebrates the lakes and breeds of fish that lures anglers to this heartland of the Lake County.

Adorning the entire gable wall at the entrance to Killeshandra Resource Centre, the 30ft tall artwork is a spectacular addition to Main Street.

“Whenever I come to a town I always try to reference the local area when I use it,” he says. He gives the example of a commission he received in Banbridge which saw him pay tribute to the town’s proud linen heritage by creating an epic floral damask design.

“Here I wanted to celebrate the fishing and lakes, so the background greeny blue tones represent a kind of light shimmering on the surface of the lake.

“And then obviously there’s the series of local fish that are found in the lakes overlaid over the top of it, and there’s some local pond weeds.”

So far, so traditional. The subject matter could have materialised at any time in the town’s history. What elevates this work is its style. Employing Rob’s signature isometric grid, it suggests the town’s richness of natural resources are also intrinsic to its future.

“In all of my work I use this isometric pattern - it’s a 30ﾟgrid. Architects use it as a well known alternative to a square grid, and it gives a kind of 3-D look.”

The result is a true wow-factor.

However, this technique also has a practical benefit for Rob. His creative process sees him design an image first on Photoshop before transposing it to the wall.

“I measure the grid so I know its size and I draw the grid exactly like this,” he says, indicating the A3 print out in his hand. “And then I count how many blocks up each bit of the fish is, so I can translate it exactly - so I scale up using the grid.”

Having sketched the fish contours, and pondweed, he then let loose with the spray cans, using a piece of card to help achieve crisp lines.

Having commenced work last Tuesday, he frustratingly had to down spray cans the following day as it lashed almost non-stop. Nevertheless, his commendable work ethic saw him finish up by Sunday.

“The paint goes on quite quickly,” he reports. “It took a day to do the grid and then a couple of hours this morning to draw the fish, and then the rest of it’s just filling in - so I should get a third of the wall done a day for three days.”

To complete an artwork of this scale in such a short time frame, scaling a ladder’s just not going to cut it. Rob rented the kind of heavy duty cherrypicker on which you would expect to find ESB workmen.

“I have got my lift licence for this” he reports, with a hint of pride. “You can’t legally use one of these without a license so that was a fun journey.”

Despite Rob’s English accent, and Lisburn home address, he has strong links to the town. He is married to fellow artist Sally O’Dowd, a native of the area. For the duration of the work the pair, along with their children Doire and Stella have been staying in apartments owned by Sally’s family where her father Tom ran a diner.

Tom and Sally’s Uncle Paul were good people to bump ideas off when it came to angling. When visiting, Rob makes a point of heading down to Derries where chatting to the anglers is as natural as taking in the lake views.

“I did a lot of research into what a local pond weed would look like and also these are fish that you can catch in the lakes here, so there’s, pike, roach bream, tench.”

The pike has its powerful tail curled about to propel itself forward, helping in Rob’s words to “create some kind of movement”.

There’s every chance you will be familiar with Rob’s work.

His isometric lemons in the petite public space at the top of College Street were the first of the series of murals which injected much needed vibrancy to the muted streetscapes of Cavan Town during Lockdown.

“I love the one that Vanessa did, the one at the Abbey grounds,” he says of the gigantic ‘Tóg go Bóg é’. “That’s a fantastic one.”

Rob is quite philosophical when it comes to the lifespan of street art.

“If they last 10 years I think you’re doing well. The paint should last five to 10 years. All walls flake eventually, but I would hope that if it starts to fade they’d get another artist to come and do a new one because street art’s not meant to last forever. It’s always a temporary thing, even right back from the graffiti days when people would throw something up and it would be gone in a month or whatever.

“There is a natural turn around of pieces which I quite enjoy,” he adds.

When the work, untitled as yet is complete, Rob hopes it meets with the community’s approval, and add to the town’s rich tourism offering.

“I hope people will love it, that it celebrates people’s appreciation of the area, and will cement Killeshandra’s reputation as a fishing town.”

No doubt it will, as the message is clear: think Killeshandra, think fishing.