Ballina residents worried about what’s happening with their beloved, internationally famous Big Prawn will be pleased to hear that the restoration process is going very well behind the mysterious scaffolding.
This week The Echo caught up with twin sisters Rachel and Rebecca Neill who are hard at work re-painting the giant crustacacean, which stands beside the Bunnings car park in West Ballina, and has been looking a bit the worse for wear in recent months.
CraftWORK Project Management looks after the Big Prawn on behalf of Bunnings, and has subcontracted the Neills’ business Set For Art to do the restoration work.
Rachel and Rebecca Neill have 27 years experience looking after large murals, hotel art, painting scenics and doing decorative finishes for film productions, though they explained this is their first giant prawn.
You’ve been a bit unlucky with the weather – it’s just started raining again!
‘Yeah, we’ve had to stop and start a little bit,’ said Rebecca. We’ve also had to go back and redo some bits, but generally we’ve had a pretty good run and we’ve chosen the right times to work.’
Returning to former glory
The prawn painting is scheduled to be finished within days, weather allowing. The sisters were able to put to rest nervous speculation on social media about the Big Prawn getting glowing eyes, being relocated or demolished – ‘although it would be amazing to stay inside!’
The Neills said they were using computer-matched Weathershield paints to beautify the giant prawn, which was ‘a bit like working on a whale’.
They explained their painting work was preceded by other teams who did cleaning work and base painting, including providing a new protective coat for the reinforced metal platform which held the prawn above the 2022 flood.
‘The plan is to get it back to close to its original colour,’ said Rebecca. ‘We’re trying to match what was there before, before it got faded and mouldy. We’re making it look fresh again.’
The Neill sisters said lots of people had been stopping to chat about the prawn. ‘They’re quite passionate about it!’
So do you think the giant prawn is cool, or a bit embarrassing? Both sisters say they are big fans of the Big Prawn. ‘I think it’s nice to bring some joy back to an area that was really hard hit by flooding,’ said Rebecca.
While they’re in town to do the painting work, the Neills are staying in a nearby place that was recently restored after flooding, so they have a real understanding of what West Ballina faced in 2022.
The sisters said the views from the Big Prawn were spectacular, and they had especially enjoyed watching the weather systems move across the landscape as they worked, along with all the rainbows.
So are you going to be restoring any more big things after this?
‘Maybe! We’ve got a passion for restoring things back to their former glory and making things last rather than just starting again.
‘The transformation of things is why we do it,’ said Rebecca Neill. ‘Bringing back the joy.’
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