March 2006

Mural Mosaic--The panel

I'm pleased to be taking part in the Mural Mosaic, an Edmonton-based art project that's gotten press around the world. And for good reason! It's very neat - the lead artist paints an enormous wooden panel with a secret image, then cuts the panel into 216 squares. The squares are then distributed to artists, who have only a theme, colours and shapes to work with.

Once all the panels are in, they're assembled in public. The result is amazing!

This is my panel, and the theme is wildlife. What do you see? The completed panels can be seen here.
I'll be posting the works in progress as I go along.

Frog

This happy little frog was drawn on the cover of an old Ottawa School of Art brochure. Pencil, white gel pen, and something purple. Maybe a crayon?

Red-winged Blackbird

Forget robins; red winged blackbirds are where spring is at. I saw the first few males of the season today, staking out their territories in some marshes along the St. Lawrence River.

It's only 8C/45F today, but it feels great after a long winter. I saw people lined up at Dairy Queen to celebrate the warm weather, in true Canadian fashion. Maybe that's the real sign of spring.

Woodland Caribou Head

Another woodland caribou in pencil, referenced from a photo by M. Berkman.

Both male and female caribou have antlers, unlike most (any?) other deer. Females' antlers are a lot sparser, though.

Running rhino beetle

This guy was one of four character designs for a video game proposal by Gaucho games. Insects, running, how could you go wrong?

The game never did get greenlighted, but I still like him.