About the murals

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Most of these murals were created using transparent acrylic paints...this gives the work a depth and richness unattainable from the "opaque" paints traditionally used in mural painting. The colours are overlapped 3 or 4 layers deep...but up to 30 layers deep in some areas. Besides aesthetic appeal, there are practical advantages to this laborious approach:

______________Transparent paints are made from almost pure acrylic and its binders whereas "opaque" paints are mostly white tinting base made up of the "chalky" material that we're familiar with when paint gets flakey.

______________A second advantage is that several thin layers are much stronger and less likely to lift or peel than a single thick layer. The reason for this is that each thin layer dries and stabilizes before the next layer is applied. This prevents tensions from forming as when a thick layer dries at an uneven rate, this tension is responsible for the "curling" of old paint. The end product is essentially a lamination of multiple layers with much more stability than a single thick layer.

Back to pictures of Murals...part 1

NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL MURAL PROJECTS

All Dimensions given in this area are approximate to the nearest whole number or fraction used.

LAST SPIKE #1

(1978)

Location

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Dimensions

Height 7 ft.

Width 15 ft.

Medium

Acrylic paint, direct to wall.

About the Work

The noteworthy thing about this mural and two others in this milieu is that they are all designed with the horizon lines at true eye level. In physical "reality" horizon lines are peculiar in that they always appear at eye-level to us whether we are standing, kneeling, or flying in an airplane. In order to "connect" the viewer to the work, it is usually imperative that murals be designed so that horizons coincide with the viewer's eye level. Without such, its "immediacy" is easily lost. In this case it required that a view be created where the viewer is almost at "track level".

Back to picture of "Last Spike #1".

NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL MURAL PROJECTS

LAST SPIKE #2

(1978)

Location

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Dimensions

Height 7 ft.

Width 10 ft.

Medium

Acrylic paint, direct to wall.

About the Work

The smallest of three murals, located in a quiet corner of the pub. This mural was made unobtrusive to avoid competing with the other two murals predominating the room. The railway switch light is a real prop in front of the mural.

Back to picture of "Last Spike #2".

NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL MURAL PROJECTS

LAST SPIKE #3

(1978)

Location

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Dimensions

#1. Height 7ft.

Width 15ft.

Medium

Acrylic paint, direct to wall.

About the Work

It is usually pleasing to find just the right "model" or picture to use as a starting point for a mural. However that seldom happens. In this case it required that the Engine be designed right on the wall. The "Cow Catcher" and other elements of the engine permitted interesting experimentation with light and shadow.

Back to picture of "Last Spike #3".

NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL MURAL PROJECTS

MARKET STREET MURAL

(1981)

Location - Toronto, Ontario.

Dimensions

75 ft. high

20 ft...most of pictorial area.

100 ft. at widest point at top.

About the Work

This work is a "trompe l'oeil". What looks like the front of the building is actually a flat wall. The facing windows on the left are real but the receding face is painted in. The work was done from a "swing stage" scaffold with the help of an assistant.

Back to picture of "Market Street Mural"

NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL MURAL PROJECTS

SHALIMAR RESTAURANT

(Exterior - 1992)

Location

Kelowna, B.C., Canada

Dimensions

Large wall...35 ft.high...11 ft. wide
Small wall...9 ft.high...12 ft. wide

 

Medium

Main Area - acrylic paint on cement block

Lower left - acrylic paint on boards

Artist's notes

This project was commissioned 2 years after completion of 10 interior murals in this restaurant.

No other existing structure was used as a model for the design, but it was created on the site to suit the space. The hieroglyphic symbol over the entrance has no (known) meaning but was invented as pleasing object to fill the space.

When finished the structure appeared so real that customers to the restaurant often tried to use it as an entrance.The only thing that prevented injury at such times was shrubbery growing in front of the mural.

Back to picture of "Shalimar" exterior.

NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL MURAL PROJECTS

SHALIMAR RESTAURANT /Taj Majahal

(Interior - 1990)

Location

Kelowna, B.C., Canada

Dimensions

Height 5 ft.

Width 12 ft.

Medium

Acrylic paint direct to wall.

Notes

This is one of ten interior murals and two exterior murals created at this location.

Back to picture of "Shalimar/Taj Mahal"

NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL MURAL PROJECTS

SPACE & TIME

(1991)

Location

Downtown Vernon, B.C.,Canada

Dimensions

45 ft.wide

14 ft. high at highest point (right side)

11 ft. high at lowest point (left side)...see

Medium

Acrylic paint on cement stucco.

About the Work

The view of this work is from an oblique angle to the left, because this is where the traffic flows on a main thoroughfare. In order to compensate for the angular distortions caused by such a strong angle, objects have been increasingly distorted from left to right. The "detail" shows what portions of the work actually look like from straight on. One can see in the "detail" how extreme the distorions had to be to make the picture appear proportional from the selected viewing angle.

Back to "detail" of "Space & Time"

Back to picture of "Space & Time"

NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL MURAL PROJECTS

FORT SASKATCHEWAN WATERTOWER

(1995)

Location

Downtown Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada

Dimensions

Height of water tower 150 ft.

Height of mural 17 ft.

Width 115 ft. (circumferance)

Medium

Marine enamel on steel

About the Work

The theme for the mural, a series of cartoon people holding hands around the circumference of the tank was conceived by a 12-year-old girl from Fort Saskatchewan. It was then executed by the artist, and an assistant over a 3-week period.

Each figure is from 14 to 17 feet high including hats. The work had to be done from ladders tied to the railing of the catwalk 150 feet above the ground. Paints and equipment were hoisted up with a block and tackle. The most trying aspect of the project was the daily morning climb to the top of the tower. Its height is equivalent to a 15 story building with the last portion of the "open" ladder tilting backwards to meet the catwalk. Hence as few trips down as possible were made during the day.

Back to picture of "Fort Saskatchewan Watertower"

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