Dutch artist Gijs Frieling and Job Wouters were creating a live mural called Amor e Consola, or Love and Comfort. I remember standing there completely captivated. The colours, the confidence, the craftsmanship. It was one of those moments where you know you’ve discovered an artist who will stay with you.

At the time, I was deeply involved in mural painting myself. We created large hand painted walls for Delicious, the BIG group and many of our Nala stores. Each mural was unique, telling a story about the place and the people who visited it. Today, the last of our original murals can still be seen in Penang, where walls bloom with flowers that have become part of the shop’s identity. Watching Gijs Frieling paint that evening in Milan felt like meeting a kindred spirit, someone who believed that walls deserve to tell stories too.

Born in Amsterdam, Frieling has built a remarkable career creating murals that blur the line between art, decoration and architecture. His paintings draw from folklore, mythology, religion and nature, creating spaces that feel timeless. In a world increasingly dominated by white walls and temporary trends, his work is a celebration of craftsmanship and colour.

His latest publication, That Very Night in Max’s Room a Forest Grew…, brings together many of the extraordinary murals he has painted in private homes. It is more than a catalogue of artworks. It is a testament to an art form that has existed for centuries, one that asks us to think differently about the spaces we inhabit and the stories they can hold.

What I admire most about Gijs Frieling is his commitment to keeping this tradition alive. Murals require patience, skill and trust. They cannot simply be moved to another room or packed away. They become part of a building’s history and, in many ways, part of the lives of the people who live with them.

Seeing this beautiful book reminded me how much I miss creating murals myself. I hope that one day we will return to painting walls and transforming spaces, not only because they are beautiful, but because they preserve a craft that deserves to survive. In an increasingly digital world, there is something profoundly human about putting brush to wall and creating something that may last for generations.

Some artists make paintings. Gijs Frieling creates worlds. Fourteen years after watching him paint live in Milan, I am still inspired by his work and by his dedication to an art form that should never become a lost art.