A TALENTED artist has transformed a plain bus stop in St Asaph into a vibrant welcome mural for visitors to the city.
The welcome mural captures the cathedral, bridge and riverbank and in a rolling image alongside welcome messages in English and Welsh.
Chloe Dymond came up with the idea when walking past the bus stop opposite St Asaph Cathedral with her mum. They agreed that being in such a prominent place it needed some life bringing to it - and so an idea was born.
A full-time artist, Chloe was previously commissioned for the Denbigh Friendly Benches Project, where benches in and around the community in Denbigh were repainted with artwork to encourage people to see them as social spaces to meet and converse.
So she approached St Asaph Town Council with an idea.
"I went to the council and offered to paint the bus stop as a gift to the city," she said. "I went to a couple of council meetings to put forward the idea and discussed it with the wider community through Facebook.
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"After discussing a few ideas and doing some drafts we decided on the final design image. It was inspired by an old drawing of St Asaph I found online as the layout and scale of it fitted the bus stop wall perfectly."
Born and bred in St Asaph, Chloe - who can be found on Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok as @chloedymonddesign - said creating a permanent artwork for her home city was an emotional experience.
"It felt joyous and heartwarming, painting scenes I grew up seeing and being able to make others smile daily with my artwork," she said.
"My mother and I were both brought up in St Asaph and we both felt a mural would really brighten up the space. Now a previously tired bus stop is now a city attraction, bringing joy to those that see it."
Chloe is proud of her St Asaph roots and returned during Covid after eight years away studying and working in Stoke-on-Trent.
Now as well as mural commissions, you can find her art on display all over Denbighshire and beyond. Chloe is often asked to brighten up shop fronts and windows with seasonal window art as well as brightening up buildings, common rooms and more.
"I have created many murals including ones at the Enfys Ward in the North Wales Cancer Unit at Betsi Cadwaladr Hospital, locals schools in Ruthin, Dyserth, Llandyrnog and Mold, a children’s residential home in Mold, hair and beauty salons, BnBs and yoga studios," said Chloe, who can be commissioned via her website www.chloedymonddesign.co.uk.
"I've also painted many bedrooms, nurseries kitchens, living rooms and gardens, sheds - you name it I've done it!
"I always painted the Poppy bench opposite the bus stop and I am going to re-paint the bench outside the parish church and the bench outside Salisbury’s accountants firm on upper Denbigh Road.
"Heading into Christmas I will be doing a lot of festive window painting and I'm taking commissions now. Window painting is a great way to brighten up your home or an entire street. It adds artwork in semi permanent manner which can be changed seasonally or for particular holidays or business."
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