Two local artists, Gale Tytlandsvik and Brenda Blackburn, have been putting in a lot of hours, working at the Garden Park on Fourth Street lately.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the garden, they are creating murals that are full of colour, happiness and beauty “impressionist-ish,” as Tytlansdvik put it. These murals are on the east wall framing the area between the Salvation Army and the SaskTel building.
Blackburn has been working on the reds and oranges middle mural, depicting a field of tulips, while Tytlandsvik is painting the purples and pinks sunset-style south piece.
Both artists are well-known in the community, have a lot of experience and created many beautiful pieces before, however, this project became a challenge for each one of them. Blackburn, who usually works in the studio, said it will be her first mural. She added she was stressed in the beginning, but the project eventually turned into a confidence builder as she was successfully progressing with it.
Tytlandsvik painted murals before, but it was a long time ago. Besides, the paintings are created with house paints and brushes, which are very different from any other materials the artists have used before and take a lot of adjustments. Paints don't mix properly and dry fast, as well as brushes, which also feel completely different from a traditional artist brush.
Nevertheless, it would be pretty obvious for any curios bypasser that Tytlandsvik and Blackburn have caught a wave and now are confidentially moving towards a stunning unique garden decoration.
Once the two murals that are currently in progress are completed, the artists plan on proceeding with the third one on the north end of the park. They hope to work on it together, creating a yellow and whites mural depicting a field of sunflowers.
After that, they will move on to painting elegant golden frames around the murals and then the birthday present to the park and the community will be completed.
Tytlandsvik said that while they were working at the Garden Park, some people stopped by and offered food and water to the artists, which was greatly appreciated. However, she also hopes to see someone stepping forward and helping her with painting the planters and boxes on the mural wall.
