Escape to the Ocean
Greenbushes, Western Australia. | 2024
Supported by GROW Greenbushes, Greenbushes Primary School, Greenbushes Art Trail, Mitre 10 Bridgetown, Lycopodium, GAM, B & J Catalono, CCR Group, Greenbushes Belles CWA, Greenbushes Acoustic
Size: 18 metres x 2.1 metres
A collaborative design between the artist and the students of Greenbushes Primary School. The students were presented with some drawing exercises and discussions of subject matter, of which Marine/Ocean was chosen. Featuring animals that live within the depths of rivers and oceans, the scene also incorporates a section of forest. The South West is a biodiversity hotspot, and the students felt very privileged to be able to share this space with the wildlife. It is rare for people to encounter many of these animals, so it is nice that you can interact with them in a different way as you can wander around the design. It becomes a reminder to stop and look, don’t touch and respect the living ecosystem that surrounds us.
Large animals lead the small, like mentors. The students drawings of shells, fish and a hammerhead shark were integrated into the artists design.
A few facts for you (because I love collecting them.)
Used 18 litres of paint.
15 colours, ran out of 4 of them.
Mural is hand painted with a brush for texture/movement.
We used 40 paintbrushes, 5 paint dropcloths, copious snacks & water.
A white underlayer is painted on first to allow direct sketching onto the surface.
Drawing up the design took 1 hour (using charcoal).
The mural took roughly 35 hours to paint over 5 days. 3 of those days involved school kids.
