Some faces deserve to be painted… and Blair Mayne was definitely one of them 🫡🎖️

Some projects are cool.

Some are fun.

And then some land in your lap and you just go,
“Right… this actually means something.”

This was one of those.

I was asked to paint Lt Col Blair “Paddy” Mayne DSO & 3 Bars - A Newtownards man, war hero, absolute legend and honestly, it was a real privilege from start to finish.

Blair Mayne isn’t just one of those names you vaguely remember hearing in school and then move on from. He’s one of ours. A local man with a seriously big story. The kind of story that deserves more than a dusty plaque and a half-hearted mention once a year. It deserves to be seen. Properly seen.

And if I can help stick that story on a wall for people to stop, look at and talk about - then I’m all in 🙌🏻

The ask

When I was approached about doing this piece, it didn’t take much thinking about.

Sometimes with a mural, there’s a bit of back and forth in your head.
Does the wall work?
Does the concept feel right?
Can I do the subject justice without making a complete mess of it?

With this one, the answer was simple:

Aye. Let’s go.

A huge thank you has to go to Shankill Alternatives Restorative Justice for funding the project and helping get it over the line. Public art like this matters. It gives people something to connect to, something to be proud of, and a proper reason to pause and remember.

Painting a hero… no pressure then

Painting somebody like Blair Mayne comes with pressure.

You’re not just painting a face.
You’re painting a legacy.

The challenge is to make it feel strong enough to reflect the man, but human enough that people actually feel something when they see it. That was the goal with this one - to make it bold, respectful and powerful.

The process… and Belfast doing Belfast things

Actually getting it painted was its own mission.

This one took over a week or so all in, and the weather definitely had a say in things. Some days were absolutely baltic, other days it was a case of getting stuck in and hoping the rain held off long enough to make real progress.

That’s murals for you, especially over here. It’s never just the painting — it’s the battling on, warming your hands up every ten minutes, dodging the washouts, and coming back again the next day to keep pushing it forward.

One of the best moments during the whole project was a visit from Fiona, Blair Mayne’s niece. That meant a lot. When you’re painting somebody with that kind of legacy, you feel the responsibility of getting it right, so having that family connection there made the whole piece even more special.

The finished piece

As it came together, I wanted Blair’s face to carry the wall - strength, intensity, presence.

That’s always the aim with portraits like this. You don’t want something flat or overworked. You want life in it. You want people to feel something when they see it.

The finiahed mural now sits proudly on Disraeli Street, Belfast, and I’m genuinely proud of how it turned out. Hopefully it becomes a real conversation point, a fitting memorial, and a reminder of a man from our wee country who did extraordinary things.

And who knows - maybe every bit of attention helps keep the wider conversation going about the recognition he deserves too.

Because let’s be honest… I know, I’m one of many who believe Blair Mayne should have received the Victoria Cross. Hopefully, the powers that be, can finally get that sorted.