BARRHEAD-Morinville artist Robert Murray has brought his unique talents to help brighten up the backyard of Morris and Karen Cartwright.
For many years the Barrhead couple wanted to have a mural of their very own to gauze upon, but for some reason the stars never alligned.
That was until about a month ago when the Cartwright's daughter-in-law told them they should look at Murray's website.
In recent weeks, Murray's work has become more well-known thanks in part to media coverage from around the province, including a spot on CTV Edmonton's evening news.
After viewing Murray's work, they knew he was the one that they wanted to have paint their mural, a landscape scene with mountains, trees, water and wildlife.
Murray's canvas, a wall of the Barrhead Royal Canadian Legion, adjacent to the Cartwright's property. In preparation, for the mural, the Cartwrights' who are members of the Legion asked for and were granted permission from the service club over a year ago.
To honour the Legion, Murray, at the Cartwright's suggestion, included a field of poppies in the scene.
As for the process, the Cartwrights credited Murray for coming up with the vision, giving him very general guidelines to follow.
"Something like mountain scenery would be great," Karen said.
But having said that, she mentioned she did have one specific request, that sasquatch be included.
Sasquatch, in North American folklore, be hairy, upright-walking, ape-like creatures that dwell in the wilderness that leave large footprints, which is also why it is also known by its other moniker, Bigfoot.
For the most part, the Bigfoot is associated with the Pacific Northwest, in the lower mainland of BC, Washington and Oregon. However, other areas, such as northern California and the B.C. Kootney region also claim the creature inhabits their region. The later being demonstrated in Labatts Canada using the creature in its advertising of Kokanee beer, which is brewed in Creston.
"I'm not sure why I like sasquatch so much, perhaps it is because we have travelled a lot in B.C. and heard a lot of the stories," she said.
Morris likes some of Murray's more conventional wildlife choices, pointing to the eagle.
The artist
Murray, a Nova Scotia native, has always been interested and had a talent for art, specifically painting beginning his career in art in his teens.
He eventually transitioned to other canvases as his experience, interests and talent grew.
After high school, he moved to Red Deer, where he studied fine arts. After graduation, he would move to London, England, where he served as a missionary in the Latter Day Saint Church, noting he was influenced heavily by the work of many of the European impressionists.
Murray would eventually return to Alberta, meeting his wife and settled into the Morinville area. It was while in Morinville that he began his career in earnest.
"I started by painting rocks, very detailed pictures, landscapes, animals, grain elevators in the 1990s," he said, during a break from painting a fence mural in St. Albert. "After gaining a better understanding of using light, colour and shadow I started moving on to larger canvases."
Some of those canvases included granite tiles used for landscaping.
He joked that there might not be an artist whose work is heavier than his, at least early in his career.
And although he was always interested and much of his work was that of larger outdoor landscape scenes, Murray said he never really considered doing murals until about 15 years ago.
"My mother was in a seniors centre [in Edmonton] and all there was this plain, white wall in the foyer, so I asked them if I could paint something for her," he said.
He started by painting a lovely outdoor scene that he knew his mother would favour. His mother wasn't the only one who enjoyed the scene as shortly after the centre asked him to paint several other murals.
From then on, he concentrated on murals, both indoor and outdoor, ranging in size of a small interior wall to the entire exterior of buildings ranging in size of a small business to a recreation facility.
Although Murray is primarily known for landscapes, his work is as varied as the surfaces he paints. On his website, www.mastermurals.net, there is an entire gallery devoted to jungle animals and superheroes.
While the subject of his murals is varied, for the most part, the process isn't.
"I start out with talking to the client, coming up with some basic ideas, create a template and then flush it out," he said. "But having said that, often the work takes a life of its own."
Which is what happened in the Cartwright's mural, he said, adding the template was very general evolving as he painted.
Generally, noted murals take about a day to complete, the one on the side of the Legion taking the better part of two days to complete.
Murray credits part of his recent popularity, not only to an increasing number of people who are becoming familiar with his work as well but in a small way the coronavirus pandemic.
He said due to COVID-19 more people are putting more effort into making their living environment as pleasant as possible.
To see more of Murray's work, visit his website or if you would like to commission him to paint a mural or via e-mail at [email protected].
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
