{"id":585114,"date":"2026-08-06T16:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/585114\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T16:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:22:17","slug":"inside-belfast-based-artists-100-hour-mural-capturing-the-spirit-of-the-fleadh-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/585114\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Belfast-based artist\u2019s 100-hour mural capturing the spirit of the Fleadh \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Belfast-based artist is spending roughly 100 hours creating a new mural that captures the music, landmarks and familiar faces of this year\u2019s Fleadh.<\/p>\n

Danni Simpson is painting the detailed piece live beneath the rainbow umbrellas in Commercial Court, opposite the Duke of York, throughout the eight-day festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take me around 100 hours to actually paint this, and that doesn\u2019t include the time it took me to illustrate it in the first place,\u201d she tells The Irish News.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always love to be able to tell a story within my illustrations. I think that\u2019s my job as an artist: to work out what the story is.<\/p>\n

\"What’s<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis one is all about the Fleadh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fleadh\"Artist Danni Simpson puts some finishing touches to her new canvas on Commercial Court in Belfast. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

Danni, who is originally from the Gold Coast, moved to Belfast seven and a half years ago after initially coming to Northern Ireland to visit family.<\/p>\n

She soon fell in love with the city and has since populated its caf\u00e9s, bars and public spaces with her increasingly recognisable murals and illustrations.<\/p>\n

Her latest work places Commercial Court at the centre of the Fleadh celebrations, with crowds of musicians performing beneath its famous umbrellas.<\/p>\n

The Harp Bar, the Duke of York, the Dark Horse and the Friend at Hand whiskey shop all appear, alongside members of staff and other familiar faces from the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to have all of the pubs, the live music and then also the area here where I\u2019m based,\u201d Danni explains.<\/p>\n

Read more: From murals to maps: How a Belfast-based artist is bringing the city\u2019s character to life<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Fleadh\"Artist Danni Simpson puts some finishing touches to her new canvas on Commercial Court in Belfast. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my studio and we\u2019re part of a really lovely community of creatives and local businesses, so I wanted to showcase that.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, Willie Jack has become involved in this, which is amazing,\u201d she says, referring to the veteran Belfast publican who runs the iconic bars around Commercial Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve worked at being able to add his staff and all of the familiar faces that you\u2019ll see when you come down for a pint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danni is aiming to finish the mural by the end of the Fleadh on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Rather than creating it privately before presenting the finished work, she wanted festivalgoers to be able to watch the process unfold.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re used to all of this fast art and AI sort of stuff, so being able to see real, human art and the process behind it is really important<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice for kids to be able to come down and see someone actually painting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to work at a good pace each day, adding maybe one or two buildings, and then as the week progresses, hopefully I\u2019ll have it finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working section by section also helps to break up the lengthy process involved in completing such a detailed piece.<\/p>\n

\"Fleadh\"Artist Danni Simpson puts some finishing touches to her new canvas on Commercial Court in Belfast. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was to paint the full thing and then do the line work, it would take a long time,\u201d Danni explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least when I\u2019m doing it section by section, I feel like I\u2019m actually getting stuff done because it does take hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The live painting is also intended to highlight the work and time involved in handmade art at a point when images can increasingly be generated almost instantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re used to all of this fast art and AI sort of stuff, so being able to see real, human art and the process behind it is really important,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s festival is Danni\u2019s first experience of the Fleadh.<\/p>\n

After walking around Belfast on Sunday, she was struck by the way the event had transformed streets and spaces across the city.<\/p>\n

Read more: Where to eat at Belfast Fleadh: Five of the best food stalls you must try this week<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Fleadh\"Artist Danni Simpson puts some finishing touches to her new canvas on Commercial Court in Belfast. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

\u201cI love it,\u201d she enthuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really good to see Belfast come alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the spaces that perhaps haven\u2019t even been used in years have suddenly become really vibrant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes to show what you can do with the city when we support all of the small businesses that are working really hard to make it such a lovely event.\u201d<\/p>\n

The response from locals and visitors has added to the experience, with some returning several times to see how the mural has progressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe response has been amazing,\u201d Danni says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had so much really good feedback, and people have just sat there for hours having a pint and watching it slowly come together, or they\u2019ve come back the next day.<\/p>\n

Read more: \u2018I play accordion, flute, piano, harp and tin whistle\u2019: Make-up maestro Paddy McGurgan\u2019s hidden life as an All-Ireland traditional musician<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Fleadh\"Artist Danni Simpson puts some finishing touches to her new canvas on Commercial Court in Belfast. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

\u201cThen you have live music here. I couldn\u2019t pick a better spot to be painting from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danni hopes her completed Fleadh piece will eventually find a permanent home somewhere in Belfast.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, prints, stickers, magnets and T-shirts featuring the design are available from her Commercial Court pop-up and online throughout the remainder of the festival.<\/p>\n

Visitors can also personalise prints with their name, a date or a message.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can make it one of their own,\u201d Danni says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can take it home so they feel like they have a little bit of the Belfast flair in their home once they leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information visit dannisimpsonart.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Belfast-based artist is spending roughly 100 hours creating a new mural that captures the music, landmarks and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,4501,113832,269,308,14113,93,5497,125216,61,60,18374],"class_list":["post-585114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-belfast","tag-cathedral-quarter","tag-culture","tag-design","tag-duke-of-york","tag-entertainment","tag-festivals","tag-fleadh-cheoil-na-heireann-2026-belfast","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mural"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}