A new mural on a sports club in Melbourne's north shows a vibrant picture of life, relationships and joy, but for artist Kirrily Anderson it took a dark period of suffering and sickness to get there.

The City of Darebin commissioned Ms Anderson to create the mural for the Donath Reserve club.

The mural is part of a project to revitalise the working-class area which has been home to low income earners and successive waves of migrants for decades.

Compared to the trendy suburbs of Brunswick and Fitzroy to the south, the Darebin suburbs of Reservoir, Preston and Coburg have little in the way of street art.

"It's essentially work on paper that's glued to the wall, kind of like wallpaper," Ms Anderson said.

The mural depicts members of the sports club, photographed by Shannyn Higgins, in a collage sprawling across the wall.

Kirrily Anderson used photographs of club members to piece together the mural. ( Supplied )

A graphic designer by trade, Ms Anderson did not expect paste-up street art would be a medium the she would ever work in.

Her perspective changed during a three-year bout of chronic fatigue syndrome when she began to question how meaningful her work was.

"When you're so debilitated like that you really feel like your sense of purpose is gone," she said.

Insomnia, exhaustion and the relentless aching of muscles and joints plagued Ms Anderson and led to a battle with depression.

"You can't experience pain like that for a long period of time without it affecting you mentally."

When she had the strength to begin using a computer again, Ms Anderson nourished her creativity and experimented with digital artwork.

"Call me hippy but I did a whole lot of soul searching," she said.

"I really looked into what was important to me and the things that made me happy.

"Having that illness gave me the space to find that creativity and figure out how I wanted it in my life."

Kirrily Anderson pasted up images to create a mural at the Donath Reserve in Reservoir. ( ABC Local: Clare Rawlinson )

Since recovering in 2008, Ms Anderson has developed a mixed practice of visual art, public art and graphic design.

Chronic fatigue is never far from her mind though and her recovery requires ongoing vigilance and self care.

"For me, being creative is a big part of keeping on top of my health — if I am not creating, I'm not happy really.

"When I'm drawing I'm in this meditative place where I don't think about heavy stuff. It's a healthy space to be in."