Who is behind these Highland rooftop artworks?
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A HIGHLAND roofer says is “starting a revolution” with his original rooftop artwork which has been praised worldwide.
Gary McIntyre (41) moved to from Clydebank to Dingwall 13 years ago where he started working for Macleod Roofing.
Since he first started adding his personal touch to some of the roofs he had been working on, he has seen his artwork going viral online and garnering him recognition in the UK and beyond.
“I have always been an artistic person,” he told the Inverness Courier.
“Just before Covid in 2019 I was working on a property which was a shooting estate. I approached the manager with the idea of embedding a stag into the roof, but unfortunately it was a listed building so I couldn’t do it.
“At around the same time I was doing a job for a friend, and I told him about the idea and he let me do it, so that's how I started off.
“Once I completed that, him and his wife were over the moon with it. So they asked me to come up with the idea for a salmon.
“I got my drawing pad out and that’s how I came up with the idea for An Afternoon's Fishing, with a salmon and a fisherman."
The design, which he completed in 2021, got him an award at the 2022s UK Pitched Roofing Awards.
Since he first started, working on these designs in his free time with the help of his colleague Adam Schuerman, Mr McIntyre has come up with several designs – among which a bat on a house in Balblair (in which bats had nested in the attic) and one on Inverness’ Telford Road, which was inspired by Banksy's Girl With Balloon.
“It kinda snowballed from there," he said.
His work has now garnered him international recognition within the roofing community.
“The online attention that I get from them is brilliant. I have now become a bit of a celebrity in the roofing word online!
“A lot of people that are interested in having works of art on their roofs are now getting in touch. I have started a bit of a revolution within the UK roofing industry for roofers trying to do artwork."
He said he was approached by the head lecturer of South Lanarkshire College and was asked if they could include one of his designs into their ornamental slating course. But recognition didn't come just from the UK.
He said: “The only country in the world that does ornamental slating courses is Germany, they have a very prestigious courses. When I did the led stag, the director of the Masters School of Slating in Cologne contacted me directly on Facebook, saying that I could skip the queue – which has a waiting list of five years – to join their courses.
He added that Master Roofers are now doing ornamental slating coursers on the back of his original designs and have invited him as guest speaker for their course in Manchester.
For his designs he incorporates led, copper and other materials, which is something that has not been done before.
“I am so passionate about my work,” he said.
“When you go into work, you you kind of fumble out the door un the morning – but when I have to work on y designs, I run out of the door!”
Mr McIntyre now runs his own business, however he remembers with gratefulness his time spent working for Sandy Macleod.
“When I first started I had the odd job doing slating but I was mostly working with concrete tiles, which is what I did for the first four years coming up here.
“Then I started working with Adam and he was a slater – we started working together, we built a good friendship and I really learned a lot working with him."
He said he still has a great relationship with Sandy Macleod.
He added: "He put me through so many different courses, from forklift to scaffolding, he invested a lot of time and money in me, so I am eternally grateful for the opportunities they gave me."
The future looks bright and more project requests are coming in for the roof artist. The latest projects he has started working on are for a family of Highland cows to feature on an Aberdeen building and he was also tasked to recreate the Fyrish Monument on an Evanton rooftop – which he will be working on this summer.
“I am really excited to work on new designs,” he said.
“So far I have been doing mostly animals but I would like to experiment also with trees and foliage as well as birds."
And when asked about passing on his trade and become a teacher in the future, he replied is something he will be considering – but maybe not in the near future.
“I am only 41 now, I still have plenty of gas in the tank!”
