Nov 30th—The Clarkson BIA/Mississauga Arts Council Project is done after three months! My largest public mural project to date, the commission, consisted of three large Bell utility boxes. Work started in August when I prepared ten digital concept drawings for the clients. The boxes’ physical layout and location dictated that each box be treated as an independent object. In practical terms, the three boxes represented ten paintings, one for each side and two not being painted due to blocked views.
The panels facing the street captured the early days of Clarkson as an agricultural community where strawberries and apples were the dominant produce. The panels facing the sidewalk featured birds that live in the nearby Rattray Marsh Conservation Area. Birds featured: The Great Blue Heron, the Eastern Screech Owl, the Pileated Wood Pecker, the Common Tern, the Great Horn Owl, the Eastern Kingbird, and the Cedar Waxwing. Hopefully, my rendering is good enough that local bird experts can identify the species.
While the mandate was for the work to be completed in four weeks, I think I did well completing ten panels in nine weeks.
While the weather was challenging, the community was great and appreciated the positive impact of the art on the streetscape. No one felt the investment by the Clarkson BIA and Mississauga Arts Council was not worth the investment.
So, all in all, a very positive experience.
FCSD Studio 