An historic mural on the north side of Trombley’s Meats is taking longer than expected, but the artist working on the project said it’s 75 per cent done.
The 100 by 12 foot mural, which is being designed by Michael Gaudet in conjunction with a committee made up of Joanne Messer, Carson Penner, Betty Bauhuis and Kirby Burningham, was expected to be finished this fall, but that timeline was unrealistic given the scope of the project.
“When you’re collaborating, there’s a lot of back and forth with the initial design. That took time. We didn’t have it totally authorized until the middle of August, so I’ve been working on it since then,” Gaudet said. “The design’s been all buttoned down and now I’m actually working on the physical mural.”
The Manitou Beach-based artist said he’s expecting it to be finished by May or June 2018. The artist has done around 60 murals across Canada over a period of 39 years.
The committee came up with the overarching concept of the mural. Gaudet visited Tisdale three times to conduct research for the project.
“It was a combination of going through the museum and photographing various artifacts and pictures in the museum,” he said. “Also we had a spread of about 50 or 60 photographs on the table upstairs that we pored over.”
Gaudet then had to edit all of those elements in such a way that it resulted in a mural with proper flow and good design.
The initial sketches have been completed, as well as the first 20 feet of the actual mural.
“It starts at the train station with one of the first steam engines arriving and it’s got a whole whack of people disembarking off at the train station being greeted by a Cree family,” the artist said.
Then it goes through some rustic farming scenes before focusing on the downtown core, with buildings like the historic hotel and the Falkon Theatre. Standing in that area are depictions of John Barron, Kay Montgomery and Brent Butt. At the end of the mural are modern terminals and high-tech farm equipment. The sky also changes as the mural moves through time, with blue skies, sunset and night skies with northern lights featured.
“In collaboration with the steering committee for the mural, I think we have a really beautiful historic overview of Tisdale that people will really enjoy for years to come,” Gaudet said.
The artist said he also works to ensure the murals he makes last for years to come.
“Over the years, I’ve learned the hard way by observing murals in my own experience that the best way to do murals is to use high-quality, professional quality artist’s acrylic, versus latex.”
He also paints the murals on high quality exterior laminated plywood with a waterproof paper coating that’s later attached to the wall and then covers the art with a special varnish that inhibits UV rays and gets rid of any glare. By doing this, it prevents the mural from chipping, peeling and fading within a three to five year time period.
Gaudet said he’ll be posting updates of his progress on his art blog at gaudetart.blogspot.ca.
