To celebrate turning 40, a carpenter and Pink Floyd fan wanted to rediscover his love of graffiti. He built two enormous murals in his neighborhood.
In search of homeowners who would accept his offer to paint a mural on the side of their terraced homes, Martin Zienkiewicz pounded on countless doors.
When a couple in Norwich agreed, he was thrilled, and soon after, their neighbors asked him for a design.
One shows the album cover for Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
With his artwork, Mr. Zienkiewicz claimed to be "fulfilling a dream.".
He added that it was also his way of making up for the "dirty graffiti and tags" he committed as a young man in Poland before moving on to make street art there.
It wasn't a midlife crisis, but Mr. Zienkiewicz, who relocated to Norwich from London in 2018, felt he needed to reinvent himself.
"I believed you needed to engage in the activity you enjoyed doing as a teenager, which was graffiti.
"I wanted to satisfy my inner self and have some simple ideas. ".
Mr. Zienkiewicz canvassed homeowners for the opportunity to clean up the end walls of their terraces and pay for all materials in exchange for a blank canvas after relocating to the north of the city with his wife and eight-year-old son.
He was a fan of Floyd and graphic design, and he was determined to recreate the Dark Side of the Moon album cover.
Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis, who attended grammar school in Cambridge with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd and original singer/guitarist Syd Barrett, created the album cover's original version in 1973. It features light refracting through a prism on a black background.
The area is new to me, and this is my first home ever, said Mr. Zienkiewicz, a painter and decorator who turned 40 in October.
"I want to feel a sense of belonging in this community because I plan to stay here for a very long time.
I was trying to complete a mathematical design using spirit levels and measuring up because I'm a carpenter and I wanted to see a different kind of wall art. ".
The Knowsley Road neighbors who live across from the Floyd mural were so moved by it that they later commissioned a zig-zag pattern, each of which cost Mr. Zienkiewicz about £250 and took two days to complete.
He is currently starting to paint a third house in the NR3 neighborhood, and he is eager to find more spaces. However, for the time being, he is only giving his time and labor.
I'm pleased that people are finding it enjoyable, he said.
