Belfast murals: Belfast is a 'special place' says Dan Kitchener

Dan Kitchener's colourful new mural depicting Ormeau Bridge has been described as 'beautiful' and 'stunning' by locals

Belfast is a special place with "the warmest welcomes" when he comes to paint, street artist Dan Kitchener has said after finishing a new mural.

Located on the corner of University Street, it depicts the Ormeau Bridge lit up at night and reflected in the Lagan River.

Kitchener started the piece titled Reflections on Monday and finished it at lunchtime on Friday.

"I wanted to give it a magical feel, so the lighting has that soft glow and the colours emphasise that," he said.

Kitchener, who is famous for creating vibrant metropolitan street art in London and New York, said he wanted to "transport people" with the mural.

"It's not a photo-realistic copy of the actual bridge itself," he told BBC News NI.

"It needs to be more than that, there needs to be a kind of mood and atmosphere and that's what I really wanted to put in so people would recognise it but also they would get that feeling and atmosphere."

Kitchener has already painted a number of other murals in the city, including 'Belfast - Blurry Eyed', which was commissioned as part of Belfast Culture Night and places a traditional Belfast black taxi in a Japanese street scene.

Another colourful mural, 'Night Taxi', can be seen on Enfield Street.

Dan Kitchener is famous for creating vibrant metropolitan street art in London and New York

Like the others, 'Reflections' was painted freehand - no stencils, projectors or grid guidelines - despite being a canvas approximately 50ft by 80ft.

It has had an immediate impact on locals, with one woman making sure to let the artist know she appreciated his work, as he came down in the lift after finishing it.

"This elderly lady who said she had lived there her whole life, was absolutely beaming and she came up and shook my hand," Kitchener said.

"She was so lovely and she said it had made her day. She was so sort of grateful for the mural and the artwork to kind of lift the area and that really made it."

On a cold and wet Saturday afternoon, passers-by had a similar response.

Noel McGuiness, 66, who has also lived in the area his whole life, told BBC News NI the mural is an improvement on graffiti that used to be there and was worth funding.

"For something big like that it's well worth it. Once you see that it's the Ormeau Bridge, it's good. It's nice," he said.

'Part of our identity'

Émer Duffy, 26, said it's a beautiful piece that "really reflects how vibrant the city is now".

"Murals are such a big part of our identity here in Belfast. I think it's important to have art pieces like this and to have them in such a visible area" she said.

"It adds a nice welcoming touch to the area," 21-year-old Cathal McGovern said.

"It's a nice big canvas so why not make something beautiful out of it? It adds to the area, having nice things nearby just lifts your mood slightly and makes everything nearby do better."

Kitchener paints freehand, despite the size of his canvases

That's exactly the effect the Lower Ormeau Road Trader's Association (LORAG), who commissioned the mural, are hoping for.

Secretary Natasha Brennan said the art work was part of plans to regenerate and animate the area after the association received funding from Belfast City Council.

"It's definitely done that, it's fantastic," she said.

"Dan's work is iconic so we are really delighted to have one of his pieces, and he really has brought our vision to light."

While the mural will officially be revealed at LORAG's first spring festival on 16 March, Dan will spend the rest of the year travelling and creating art in far flung destinations.

One day though, he hopes he will make it back to Belfast, "one of his favourite places to paint".

"I get such a reaction from the community every time I come and paint so for me, any opportunity to come to Belfast and paint, I sort of jump on it."