The Elevation wall mural festival celebrating the 800th anniversary of North Shields was kicked off by Nina Valkhoff, a painter and muralist from Rotterdam in the Netherlands. As she began work on her marine-themed mural, ‘The Chase’, at the bottom of Norfolk Street, Nina immediately sensed she was near the sea: “I love being surrounded by that familiar sound of seagulls!” She must have felt their presence even more whilst high aloft in a cherry picker painting up to the rooftops.
How did she end up in this unique line of work? Nina always knew she would be an artist: “There was never any question about what I wanted to do. I was so driven!” She followed the art route at high school and studied illustration at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. However, it was completely by chance that she discovered her talent for working on a much larger scale: “I was attending Salsa dancing sessions and the owner of the club asked if I could paint a mural on his wall.” In the 23 years since then, Nina has beautified buildings all over the world with her striking works of art and has been working as a full-time muralist for the past decade.
Nina’s art is primarily inspired by flora and fauna, and her colourful murals typically feature a variety of animals and plants: “I like to choose wildlife that is specific to the location”, she explains. She aims to raise awareness of endangered species and bring out the beauty of certain creatures that aren’t widely appreciated. Her mural celebrating Rotterdam’s native fox was nominated for ‘Best Mural of the World 2023’ by Street Art Cities. Sadly, the building adorned by “Fox Rotterdam’ is soon to be demolished, and the mural will go with it. The transience of her beautiful works of art makes them all the more special and reinforces the precarious position of the natural world they portray.
‘The Chase’ is guaranteed to catch the eye of anyone looking down from Northumberland Square towards Norfolk Street. Depicting a dynamic underwater hunting scene, the beautifully detailed mural features fish and fowl familiar to the North East Coast. Two gannets and a cormorant vie to catch a herring beneath the waves, the seaweed and currents swirling around them. Fishing is at the heart of the history of North Shields, famous for its fearless fishermen and hardworking herring girls. However, this timeless image of the struggle for survival could have occurred long before the fishing community came into existence – the cormorant in particular looks almost prehistoric. Who knows if this will remain a familiar sight over the next 800 years? The herring population has been depleted by overfishing in the past and it is a delicate balancing act to try and sustain food sources for future generations of humans and birds alike. People are so used to seeing seabirds around, they may not realise that many gulls, including gannets, are on the UK’s list of Birds of Conservation Concern. The mural represents the town’s feathered residents in a different light and offers a rare glimpse of their lives below the surface of the sea.
Whilst painting, Nina could look out towards the sea and sky, into which her artwork seems to blend seamlessly with its colour palette of blues and hues. Gazing over North Shields, she was reminded of her home city of Rotterdam: “We’re connected by the sea. Both places are beautiful but still have a rough edge. There have always been tough jobs to do, for example in the fishing industry here and in Rotterdam all the hard work in the harbour. The people are no-nonsense and down to earth.” There are differences though: “I feel much more comfortable in this weather, I don’t like the heat!” She came to the right place. When Nina left the Netherlands it had been 36 degrees. Here it was 18.
How does it compare to other places she has worked? “I did a mural in a very posh district in Paris. A large team of people were paid to help me but I didn’t need half of them. They just spent their time on the cafe terrace below, offering me expensive drinks whenever I came down to the ground. I’ve also worked in some tough neighbourhoods. Sometimes the people were just indifferent to what I had created. At other times, for example in Ireland, the people were extremely hospitable and encouraging. Their reception to my work was so heartwarming! I’ve had some very special experiences. The response to my public art has been 99% positive.” One of Nina’s most memorable murals was when she was given total creative freedom to come up with a design for an unused building. Out of nowhere an idea came to her to paint two maned wolves. It turned out that the building was a pub that had closed down because the owners had lost their son and his best friend in a car accident. They instantly felt that the wolves represented the boys and were so moved that they threw a surprise live concert for Nina on her last day of work and invited her for dinner in their family home.
For the mural in Norfolk Street, local residents were consulted about their own ideas, which Nina took on board before coming up with the design. She gave careful consideration to the specific location: “The water is so close by, it had to involve the sea.” The shape of the building is also important: “It has to fit!” Over the years she has had to adapt her style: “The murals look so different when you get down to the ground. I used to include much more detail but you could only see it up close! So I have had to change the way I paint.” The detail in Nina’s paintings is still stunning. As the first of the North Shields murals began to take shape on the wall, people driving past started slowing down to take a photo, honk their horns or give her the ‘thumbs up’. Passers-by shouted: “So cool!” and “I love it!” She was even offered free coffee from the Wooden Deli, who were delighted with the transformation of the side of their building. Local resident, John, stopped by to see what it was all about: “I didn’t know about this, it reminds me of the mural trail in Glasgow.” John used to create murals himself as a teenager, after attending art classes at Hawkeys Lane Boys’ Club: “I think this is fantastic for the town! It will bring people to North Shields.”
The brief for all the Elevation artists was to ‘capture the spirit of North Shields’. Nina has not only achieved this with the finished product of her spectacular artwork but throughout the process of its creation. She could not have completed the mural without the assistance of volunteers from the local community, who stepped up to help paint large sections of the background. Together with the continued words of encouragement and general warm welcome she was given, this experience has allowed Nina herself to experience the true spirit of Shields, which she will no doubt share with others as she continues her work around the world.
Elevation is a community arts charity founded by local residents and powered by volunteers. To mark the town’s 800th anniversary, the Elevation wall mural festival has brought together eight talented artists to create a series of large-scale public artworks over the summer of 2025. Selected by a panel of community members, the artists were set the challenge of capturing the spirit of North Shields. Find out more about the Elevation North Shields 800 Mural Trail.
Elevation has been documented and promoted in collaboration with I Love North Shields (www.ilovenorthshields.com) and Sira Studio (www.sirastudio.com).
Photographs by Wayne Bordoli Photography (Facebook)
More articles in this series:
Wall Murals are Coming to North Shields!
Painting the Town: Elevation Mural Festival Update
Other murals in the Elevation North Shields 800 Mural Trail:
The Siren – Prefab77 – Albion Road
North Shields No4 – Anthony Downie – Trevor Terrace
I Beg That Sound – Ricky Also – Brandling Terrace
The Spirit of Shields – Mark One87 – North Shields Football Club
