Painting a mural at the top of the world's steepest street could be considered the high point of a Dunedin artist's career.
Artist Daniel Mead, who has become well known in Dunedin for his artwork around the city, has been commissioned to paint a mural at the top of Baldwin St by Keep Dunedin Beautiful.
Community groups and schools in Northeast Valley were consulted and Mead visited North East Valley Normal School to get pupils' ideas for a design.
From their input, the design will be a representation of Baldwin St with the Jaffa race taking place. It will also include native birds and a painted scroll with statistics about the street gradient.
Mead has been working on fine days in an effort to have it completed by October 17 in time for the ANZA Challenge up the street.
He had been interested in art from a young age but had never had any formal training, Mead said.
At age 5 he was really into drawing and sculpture.
''I pursued it myself. I never went to uni or polytech,'' he said.
Painting murals for the Dunedin City Council has been Mead's main source of income since he was first contracted in 2009. He has also been approached by a few private groups, such as the St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club, to do murals.
Mead is also called in when one of his murals is damaged and needs a touch-up.
He also enjoys painting in his spare time and has done everything from portraits to landscapes and surreal images.
Some of his paintings have featured in group exhibitions.
He got the job by ''being lucky enough to talk to the right person at the right time''.
Since 2009, Mead's works have become a familiar sight on walls and bus shelters around the city. Most of the pieces are painted with designs relevant to the area they are in.
One of his most well-known works is the portrait of the late John Noakes on the Company Bay bus shelter. Noakes was famous for painting more than 60 bus shelters around Dunedin.
Other pieces include the University of Otago clocktower mural under the George St overpass and the mural near St Bernadette's Primary School in Forbury Rd.
He also worked on the large mural in Hoyts Lane along with some other local artists.
Once he had finished the Baldwin St mural, he had several other projects around the city to work on, he said.
- Jonathan Chilton-Towle
