| "The shops and businesses on the Oxford Rd are a major characteristic in their own right." | | Tris Aver, artist |
If someone asked you to create a mural of a new radio drama on Reading's Oxford Road, would you know where to start?
 | | Tris Aver at work on the mural |
Assigned to this mammoth task was artist Tris Aver, of Oxford Road's Open Hand Open Space studios (OHOS). The end result is a stunning ten-metre long painting that is on display by Battle Hospital. Tris, 24, said: "I requested a brief outline of what the story involved: plot line, characters, locations and so on.
 | | Artists Chris Wright and Leanne Narewsky |
"With this in mind I had a walk down the Oxford road and took photos of various locations and 'street life' that most represented the road itself and, to a degree, the locations/shopfronts of the story." Tris, who among other projects designed album artwork for The Cooper Temple Clause, sketched several designs but in the end opted for a general street scene with emphasis on the buildings.
 | | Tris + Radio Berks staff and soap extras |
Tris explains: "Buildings seem to be an integral part of the story alongside the characters themselves. The shops and businesses on the Oxford Rd are a major characteristic in their own right, therefore using them as the dominant image for the mural seemed natural." Computer processes were used to scale the image up to the 10 metre length, while also giving it a contemporary urban look (without losing the Oxford Road identity). Eighteen hours later, the final result is now a landmark on its own.
 | | The 10-metre mural |
"I would like to thank everybody involved in the painting of the mural" says Tris, "especially Leanne, Duncan and Chris (OHOS artists) without whom I may be still painting away well into the night."
You can see the mural on display until around March 2005. | 
