About the mural
St Marnock Square Mural was installed in 2022.
The chosen design depicts the story of Lady Ann Livingston Boyd, The Countess of Kilmarnock and widow of The Earl of Kilmarnock, a Jacobite who was captured at Culloden and executed for his part in the 1745 Uprising.
The wall sits between the foundations of Kilmarnock House where the Earl and Countess lived, and its gardens, now incorporated into Howard Park, just across the river from the Square, features the Lady's Walk, named after Lady Ann.
During the second Jacobite Uprising in 1745, the Earl supported Bonnie Prince Charlie's cause. As Colonel in the Horse Grenadiers, he fought at the battle of Falkirk while his devoted wife detained the opposition General at lunch and made him late to the battle to help ensure a Jacobite victory!
The Earl went on to fight on the Battle of Culloden, where he was captured. He was then sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered in London in 1746, although this was later commuted to beheading for supporting the Jacobite cause.
He was also attained, which meant his titles were not inherited by his descendants. The Lady's Walk in the Howard Park commemorates the walks taken by his grief stricken widow, who died of heartbreak a year after his execution.
About the artist
The St Marnock Square Mural was designed by Kilmarnock based artist Tom Lightbody. While still actively working in the print trade, he has been quietly establishing himself as a prominent Street Artist in the West of Scotland for more than four years.
Tom has taken his passion for graffiti and graphic art and used it to develop a unique and recognisable style. A portrayer of Illustrative fine liner drawings and paintings for many years, Tom took this style, scaled it up and paired it with the tools of graffiti to create large scale works on walls and outdoor spaces in 2018.
Since then he has been involved in group street art exhibitions, mural trails and with scaled down canvas work, gallery exhibitions. Although mainly exploring subtly expressive figurative form, his main interest is colour and how colours interact with each other to give a boldness or brightness that can sometimes be at odds with the physical expression or form.
Mural proposal by Tom Lightbody
Meet the artist event video
Watch a video of the Meet the Artist event that took place on 9 December 2021 at the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock.
Other mural works
Other murals by Tom Lightbody include:
Meet the artist event comments
Examples of feedback about the mural
The following comments were received at the Meet the Artist event:
- "Love the concept and the story behind the artwork which I have never heard of till now. It makes a change from seeing the usual famous people from the town and highlighting something that probably not many folk know. I’m really excited to see her in person watching over where she used to walk."
- "Wow, just wow."
- "It is the best art I’ve ever seen. I love it. Nice colouring."
- "Amazing design - Love it! What a talented artist. Great modern mural but with a link to a unique historical female figure. Can’t wait to see the finished work."
- "Incredible. Listening to the stories’ origins really provides insight to a striking piece of art. It would be amazing to see this in Kilmarnock."
- "Love the combo of the modern art piece, and the historical concept - very clever. I think it will be a talking point in the setting and something different for the people of Kilmarnock to enjoy."
- "Beautiful piece of contemporary art work which is visually stunning high impacting and fits the site perfectly. Brings attention to an aspect of local history not so well known."
- "Great to see Kilmarnock thinking more outside the box with contemporary art whilst still providing a nod to its history. Wonderful idea."
- "Fantastic to see a woman from history and a modern interpretation that has an interesting story with an interesting character from Kilmarnock history."
- "An amazing piece of art work. It will be great to have some street art in Kilmarnock and showcase local talent."
- "Love the design, and the history behind the illustration."
- "Absolutely stunning! Kilmarnock born, but now know more of the history in connection with the painting. Love it."
- "An amazing idea with great history and a wonderful story behind the art. Unique style, stands out from any other I have seen. Brilliant work. Ten out of ten."
- "At first I thought the parasol anachronistic - but apparently this is not the case. It seems fashionable in Europe during the 18th century. For some reason it does not feature in the portraits of fashionable ladies during the 18th century as far as I am aware. I may be wrong."