The team at Mural Mosaic has struck again, this time putting together a special project for the Canada Summer Games, now taking place in Sherbrooke, Que.
The National Sports Mural Mosaic, as the final product is called, is a single image made out of 243 individual panels created by 110 artists from across the country, all inspired by the athletes and athletic achievements, both professional and amateur, from all 13 provinces and territories and throughout Canada's history.
Contributor Phil Alain is thrilled with the innovative image that features two unique optical illusion mural processes, thanks to his collaborators in the east. MURIRS, he says, is recognized around the world for creating 3-D murals.
"They've basically turned the city of Sherbrooke into a mural city. They've been doing this for about 13 years but this year they wanted to push the limits," he stated, later adding, "Part of the mural breaks away from the actual wall. There's also parts that come outside of the wall that give it the 3-D effect."
MURIRS stands for the French translation of Urban Murals for the Revitalization of Buildings and Social Reconciliation. According to its website, it is a non-profit organization whose mission is to "promote various milieus by producing artistic murals and working toward social solidarity."
The project has been in the works for about 18 months. Alain himself was one of the contributors along with other local painters Julie Kaldenhoven, Sylvia Leschyshyn, Oksana Zhelisko, and Lewis Lavoie, Alain's partner with Mural Mosaic.
Lavoie's panel features the late great local curler, Hec Gervais. Leschyshyn recreated a likeness of St. Albert's Ducky Dome.
Although it is already on full display to the public, the work will receive its official unveiling on Friday, Aug. 16 at the corner of King and Wellington streets in downtown Sherbrooke.
For more information, visit www.muralmosaic.com or www.murirs.qc.ca.
Still life of book
She could technically call herself a cover girl but Memory Roth will probably say that she simply painted a book.
The local artist is now proud to add book cover to her curriculum vitae. Stealing Home by author Dwayne Brenna features her painting The Ball Player, a work that originally got her a second place finish in an Edmonton Journal contest for Father's Day last year.
The work shows her dad in a baseball uniform sitting atop a large boulder in the middle of a field. It's an apt image for a book of baseball-based poetry.
"In brief narratives where we meet such immortals as Casey Stengel, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Satchel Page, we are taken out to the ballgame to witness its inherent poetry," is the book's description as found on the publisher's website.
"We also meet the local players, sandlot philosophers and even Brenna himself: poet, player, coach, fan. Always, behind the stats, the egos, and the hero-worship, is the real story; not a bunch of overpaid idols but the account of their common humanity in all its tobacco-chawing [sic] wonder and complexity."
"It looks good," Roth stated. "It's quite exciting. My dad is over the moon!"
This has been a pretty good summer for Roth. She also had her painting At the End of the Day, Love Remains published in the Night of Artists 2013 magazine. Two of her dog portraits, Jake and Kona, were also featured in the spring issue of Art Trends Magazine.
Roth is another one of the local artists who contributed to the National Mural Mosaic to be unveiled next Friday at the Canada Games in Sherbrooke, Que. She did a snowboard painting of her son, called On Top of the World. Alain liked it so much that he asked her for another.
What she came up with was a representation of local athlete, Garret King. As it turned out, the image that she used was a photograph of King taken by Gazette photographer Chris Colbourne and printed in the paper a few years ago.
September is shaping up nicely for Roth and Alain too. In addition to the mural, the two will join a cast of numerous others for the Night of Artists' Wild Pink Yonder show. That will be held at the Whitemud Equine Centre at 12504 Fox Dr. in Edmonton from Saturday, Aug. 31 to Sunday, Sept. 1. For more information about that and other NOA events, visit www.nightofartists.com.
After that, Roth will be the featured artist for the final ArtWalk event of the season. She will have her art on the walls at Gemport at 11B St. Anne St. opening on Thursday, Sept. 5 and running until Sept. 26. For more information on that or other ArtWalk exhibits and events, visit www.artwalkstalbert.com.
