My Next Big Mural...Visualized.

Finally, they figured out how to post a video SWIFTLY on the Blogger platform!

After a brief wait at YouTUBE, this short video is now instantly install able here, simply by pasting in the link. Put simply, there is zero upload time so I am down with that!





About the Artist/Author: To Read More, Please Visit www.mrgaudet.com      

"World's Largest Business Card"

Timeline: July 5th, 2017...

After waiting for  almost five years for the Young Centennial Committee to get their ducks in a row, my patience has been richly rewarded. I was on site to capture stunning images of the massive mural installation.

A scissor lift capable of ascending 40' into the air was pressed into service.

A combination electric and hydraulic lift was brought on-site. The large working platform, in tandem with a tractor with fork-lift, made ideal equipment to lift the heavy panels into their respective positions on the massive frame.

This shot gives a good impression of the scale of the frame.

The scissor lift requires outriggers when extended high up in the air.

In the above picture, you can see the huge ( 16" diameter) steel posts that were deemed necessary to hold the 20' x 80' expanse of painted panels. The structure was engineered to withstand very brisk winds. Also, considering the predominant (prevailing) winds come from the northwest, the infrastructure is oriented to "slice" into the wind, rather than face it like huge sail.

The aforementioned tractor and fork lift can be seen to the left, carrying the next panel.

Now that you have seen some of the (later) highlights of the installation, here is the finished product...for your viewing pleasure:

The finished installation of "forever YOUNG" at Young, SK.

Once the "forever YOUNG" mural was completely installed, I decided to create a quick video, on my phone. I posted the video on Facebook that afternoon and within about 24 hours, 9,700 viewers partook of the great fun.

About the Artist/Author:    

  Please Visit www.mrgaudet.com

        

"Premiere Van Lines" Pick up Mural Panels...

Yesterday was a big day in my world.  About a week ago, I scheduled a pick-up with SGEU for "Premiere Van Lines" to come from Regina to pick up the painted panels...of the two murals for SGEU. I was just putting on the "finishing touches", so the firm date added a sense of urgency, you might say. Nothing like a deadline to get things done!

The friendly, professional Premiere Van Lines team arrived exactly on schedule.

In a world full of "OK" so-called "professionals", the team of movers rolled in exactly on schedule. After I plied them with a quick coffee, we settled in to deconstruct the second mural, which was still affixed to the temporary frame.

A reminder of the first mural of two...while it was still mounted.

By this time, I had already dismantled the first mural and had stacked it behind the temporary frame. The second mural was also finished and we needed to take it down to move it. I had mounted the panels with an absolute minimum of hardware, thinking ahead to the move.

The second (slightly larger) mural remained affixed to the frame until the day it was moved.

It was fast and easy to dismantle the second mural...there were only 2 or 3 screws holding the panel in place. So, coffee sipped, we were ready to get down to business.

Al and Tanya agreed to pose for a quick snapshot, for posterity.

I decided before the "Premiere VL" arrived to be conscientious about taking lots of photos of the process. I was happy that the team cheerfully agreed. This was an intense painting adventure for me, as I recognized right from the get-go that it is one of the most...if not THE most, important mural commissions in Saskatchewan this year. Remember, while the originals are destined to be permanently installed at SGEU's spanky new Headquarters in Regina...no mean feat in itself...but also, perhaps more important (in terms of high-profile visibility), the artwork will be dramatically enlarged to fully TWICE their original size and pressed into service as highway billboards at a "very high" traffic location. So, this...in the grand picture...is pretty astounding. You can rest assured that I will chronicling the whole trip!

Al wore his "The Art of Moving" shirt...very appropriate considering the task at hand!

I was deeply impressed with Al's "The Art of Moving" sweat-shirt, very fitting, don't you think, considering the task at hand! I specifically asked him to pose with the slogan on his back. He cheerfully complied...which I thought was pretty darn cool.

The movers brought lots of blankets along to protect the precious cargo.

I watched as Al and Tanya very methodically loaded and positioned each panel. They were very careful to make sure that there would be no issues with the panels getting scratched or damaged in any way. They thought ahead, and brought plenty of blankets to ensure a safe, uneventful trip.

I was really impressed with how extremely careful and respectful Al and Tanya were moving each panel.

If you look carefully at the above photo, you will see that after the panels came down off their frame, they  were never allowed to touch the ground, until they came to rest inside the truck. See? This panel is held free and clear of any contact with the gravel underfoot by being strategically positioned on the steel toes of each shoe under the left and right foot! Attention to detail much?

Tanya snapped a quick photo to show the dismantling in process.

 I thought it would be a nice touch to ask Tanya to snag a quick shot showing me wielding my cordless drill, in the act of dismantling a panel, down off its frame. Al helpfully stood by, holding the panel in place, lest it fall forward. 

Al agreed to stand with me just prior to loading the final panel on-board.

Just before they loaded and secured the last panel -the one on the far right of the second mural- into the truck, Al and I posed for one final picture. Thanks for doing this, Tanya! We made a special point to maintain the correct order of panels...in consideration of taking them of the truck for them to be photographed in Regina...with instructions to replicate the order upon arrival at SGEU. I reasoned, may as think ahead to avoid any mix-up down the line.

Now, if I was to grade the performance of both Al and Tanya from "Premiere Van Lines", I would reward them with a five out of five gold stars, without hesitation. One star for professionalism, another for friendliness, a third for promptness, four for respect, and a fifth for carefulness.

Stay tuned for the rest of this story. It's not over until the artwork reaches its final destination...out on Saskatchewan highways, blown up to twice this size and up in the air on their billboard infrastructure!

Your Guide to the Mural-Painting Method (Part 2)

As the second mural of the Saskatchewan Government Employees' Union (SGEU) commission comes swiftly to fruition -as promised- I will take a pause for the cause and post some more pictures of the "work-in-progress". Sometimes it's a challenge to keep up with myself, as once I get painting, I have to make a conscious effort to stop long enough to photograph my progress! You will recall that the last picture(s) in my previous post showed the addition of a translucent "violet" glaze. After this, it was time to add the "translucent blue" glaze.

The shadowy bits really start to sing with the addition of a "blue glaze".

With the addition of each successive glaze -in this case blue- the image increasingly "pops".

When contrasted with the previous pictures (sans blue) you can see the amplification of the detail.

It's always exciting to watch the images clarify with each new glaze. Not only does each step add appreciable detail, but also beefs up the contrast...which of course is fundamental to the process.

The shapes and forms take on a more vivid appearance...

I decide to "pan" across the surface of the mural so you could see how the "global" approach to glazing...persisting in completing each successive treatment from left to right, and from up to down, before moving on to the next glaze. This approach creates a dynamic uniformity; put another way, visual continuity.

A sweeping view of the mural: 6' high (plus the extensions) x 24 running feet.

Remember, there is absolutely NO white aka light as of yet. The background hue -a warm golden orange- is standing by as the neutral base. It is only after all of the "tonal study" is completed that white is introduced for the first time.

Your Exclusive Guide to the Mural-Painting Method

As usual, the first step in starting any painting...from easel painting to the most massive mural...is separating the light from the dark by indicating everything "dark" with a translucent orange glaze. This the first step in the "tonal study" and must be executed across the entire surface. No dark shape, shadow or form is left behind. In case you haven't noticed, this "global glazing" technique creates a wonderful visual continuity from the very beginning of the 13-step process.

The so-called "global glazing" technique creates "visual continuity" throughout the 13-step process.

No shadow, shape or form that qualifies as "dark" is omitted in the first orange glaze.

When I start a painting, I work methodically across the entire surface to indicate separation between light and dark. This "global" approach not only keeps the process nicely organized, but also immediately creates a certain continuity, which will pay off in spades as the painting develops.

Time to fire up the 2nd glaze, a translucent red.

 With each successive glaze, the resolution increases dramatically. I consider the first glazes as "sketch" glazes, preparatory studies that allow me to make critical decisions in the refinement of the detail. This is possible due to the fact that each glaze presents so much more detail.

The second (red) glaze nears completion.

You can plainly see that the details of the mural increase exponentially with each successive glaze.

Look what happens with the addition of the "violet" glaze!

Once I initiate the "violet" glaze, things really start to pop. I think of violet as the first really definitive glaze, as far as the resolution of the detail goes. Put it this, you better make sure that you have a good handle on the composition and detail by this time, because by now, you are definitely committed!

Violet is a definitive glaze, as it really pops the detail.

I always find it so gratifying to reach glaze three, which is a translucent violet. Even with ten remaining glazes to full-on technicolor, the violet glaze creates a powerful impression of the potential of the image.

From one end to another and from top to bottom, each glaze is methodically applied.

This so-called "Global Glazing" technique is something that I have meticulously developed over the course of sixty-odd large murals and hundreds of easel paintings. Make no mistake about it, this technique was developed over many years of trial and error, but mostly it is common sense when the desired end game is a lustrous, rich, life-like result.

The third glaze (translucent violet) shown in its completion.

Followers of my blog will recognize that each glaze serves to enhance all of the preceding glazes. One of the huge advantages of employing the "translucent" glaze is that all of the successive glazes mingle and dance with their fellow glazes. Nothing gets "buried" as I progress through the complete 13-step process, but rather, all of the glazes compliment each other, glowing in their full-spectrum glory. So stay tuned, as this mural will blossom rapidly in front of your eyes!

If you want to see a sneak preview of the entire 13-step process, feel free to check out this 48-second video that I created a while back.

A Candid Video that Explains Purpose of SGEU Murals

Yesterday a friend of mine visited our gallery and requested that I explain the "plan" regarding the two murals commissioned by Saskatchewan Government Employees' Union (SGEU) here in my home province. She then proceeded to catch my response on her video camera.





To reiterate, once the two murals are finished, they will be permanently housed at the new SGEU HQ in Regina, and will be photographed with a large format digital camera. The original images will then be enlarged 200% to be pressed into service as highway billboards across the province. A design firm based in Vancouver will be charged with the task of computer generating a slogan and the SGEU logo, to be superimposed over my artwork. As you can imagine, this is all very exciting for me, because my artwork will potentially be viewed by millions of eyeballs in such a high-traffic public setting.

1st of 2 Murals for SGEU 90% Finished

After another weekend of painting, the first of the two murals commissioned for SGEU is about 90% finished. How do I know that, you ask? Here's how... typically I use a technique that requires exactly 13 translucent glazes...I counted!

              

1st SGEU Mural Coming Along Nicely

After several more days of concentrated painting, the first of two murals commissioned by the good folks at Saskatchewan Government Employees' Union (SGEU) is coming along nicely.

Now that this mural is up and running, my painting instincts are kicking

This has been a very enjoyable painting process, with a certain amount of flexibility that has allowed me to stretch my creative muscles. I'm finding that my instincts and experience in mural-painting are holding me in good stead as work progresses. With a project of this magnitude, it is important to remember the end-game. These murals will be digitally captured with large format cameras once I pronounce them "finished". The resulting photographs will be enlarged 200% to create highway billboards throughout the province of Saskatchewan. Bearing this rather astonishing fact in mind, my artwork needs to be sensitive to the context. 

You can see that after a few more good days of painting productivity, the images are emerging as quite vivid.

The rendering of the thematic figures needs to be therefore a bit exaggerated, or put another way, the details must be on the "theatrical" side, with very pronounced features. It would not be appropriate, considering the fact that the observers of the highway billboard replications will be whizzing by at highway speed, to be overly subtle with the "visual fingerprints" of the design.

My "Pride of Ownership" rings true with the Saskatchewan-based 

So, it should not surprise you, dear reader, that my approach to this visual spectacle is to paint in a muscular style. I am sure it will be very interesting to see the effect of these massive photographs based on my original artwork. I'm already wrestling with the concept that every brush stroke will ultimately be enlarged to twice its natural size! 

Please stay tuned, I will be updating this project on a regular basis as work continues.

Please visit my website www.mrgaudet.com for more samples of my artwork and to read about my upcoming book, called "Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality".

Rock those Brushes! Firing up Two New Murals...

After several weeks of  negotiating, work has commenced with a vengeance on the two murals for Saskatchewan Government Employees' Union (SGEU). The "negotiating" part involved hashing out what and who specifically would end up being featured in the murals. There were quite a few considerations with this. First and foremost, all of the characters needed to be relevant and topical.

Second, there had to be an "aesthetic" sensitivity to the entire layout. (My job to ensure this!)

I decided to build a temporary frame, to hold the panels, in our back yard.

I suspect that the main reason why my submission to SGEU to undertake this (fairly ambitious) project in the first place was approved out of twenty-six "serious proposals" was mainly due to my mural-painting portfolio. My working portfolio clearly telegraphs the fact that my career has been built on murals. In my case, it is not so much "wishful thinking", as proof positive that I have both the experience and credentials to carry it off.

Like this.

Having dealt successfully with all of these concerns (and more), I was delighted to get a positive green light to go ahead, and have now splashed on the first...um...five or so glazes.

Once the layout was lightly sketched on the primed panels, I was eager to start painting.

 You can imagine, after looking at the sketches for the past few weeks, I was very happy to start actually painting. Put another way, I was biting at the bit! Without any more hesitation, I dove straight into painting. There is not a lot of guesswork here. I have pretty much nailed down the technique now, after so much painting leading up to this project.

By the end of the first, long day of painting, I had pretty much completed the first two glazes.

One of the most exciting things about this technique is that we get to see the entire surface area virtually "come to life" simultaneously. I will not "micro-manage" a certain area...because that would not be the best approach to mural-painting. Rather, it all...paradoxically, gets painted at once, if you get what I mean.

I was happy to find out today that there is a dedicated portal on the www that will feature regular updates on this project. It's really well conceived. Check it out here.

Near-Death Experience Fuels Quest for Immortality: An Artist's Story

To live or to die, that is the question.

In 1979 at age 19, while living and working as a freelance artist in Toronto my health was dramatically imperiled by End-Stage Renal Failure. If the term 'End-Stage' sounds ominous, it's because it was! 

Without emergency medical intervention I would've been a dead man. The toxins had accumulated to such  lethal levels that the team of ER doctors  were shocked that I had even managed to make it into Sunnybrooke Hospital on my own two feet. 

Depiction in pencil of the 'Shribner Shunt' to initiate emergency dialysis. (10:48 am, April 4th, 1979) 

After my timely diagnosis I was outfitted with a 'Shribner Shunt' that allowed emergency dialysis therapy the very next morning. Once I had received the dialysis therapy for about five months I started to feel more human and less like a walking toxic waste dump. Kidney failure is an extremely precarious state of being!

My neighbor on the dialysis ward with my machine in the foreground, April 1979.

Making the best of a crappy situation.

A wonderful resource person at the hospital arranged for me to take over an empty room in the hospital as a make-shift studio and even supplied me with a budget in order to outfit myself with paints and canvas to enable me to start painting again as a way of getting back on my feet to regain a sense of normalcy in my shattered life. 

I decided to create a mural that I called 'Recovery I' as a salutation to what I hoped would be an eventual return to health. You might say that this mural was an 'invocation' for my own recovery from what was a shockingly horrific disease.  As a small token of appreciation for the excellent medical care and life-saving intervention I received at Sunnybrooke, I decided to donate this mural to the institution.  It hangs in the main lobby there to this day.

"Recovery I" was designed and painted as an invocation for my own eventual recovery from the ravages of End-Stage Renal Failure.

Extreme adversity leads to a life-long commitment...


Although the onslaught and aftermath of this disease was a huge setback that caused a lot of negative impacts in my life, I can now in retrospect say that the net benefits of the whole experience far outweigh the deleterious. Although I certainly would not recommend this trial by fire to anyone, for me the experience set me on a path to self-discovery though my path as a life-long artist that I would never regret. 

Sure, there have been times when I almost wished I had settled for a more financially secure career but all in all, it has been a great ride and just keeps getting better!

Inspiration or Delusion? Let History Decide.

Very soon after my eventual kidney transplant...which freed me from the exhausting routine of thrice-weekly dialysis treatments...I was a recipient of another kind: a powerful vision came to me in a vivid 'waking dream' of three triangles hovering in space. They contorted and rotated to join together to form a single design of three triangles 'within' a single triangle. Lest I sound like a total nut-job in describing this as a 'mystical experience' I will share with you the exciting development of the following days.

With the confidence of one 'inspired', I took my crude pencil sketch of my three triangles to the Archbishop of Halifax at the time, professing to him that I believed it to be a 'mystical vision' that encapsulated the mystery of the 'Trinity', which in Roman Catholic terms is the 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit'.

Much to my delight and amazement (but really, not a huge shock or surprise; I was THAT confident) the Archbishop made an executive decision on the spot and assigned the parish priest to oversee the execution of a mural in St. Mary's Basilica which I proceeded to work on with vigor!

Applying the first few strokes on 'Trinity AD 1981' at St. Mary's Basilica in Halifax.

After about three months I had completed the mural which I called "Trinity AD 1981" in the modest setting of the Parish Hall of the Basilica. My dream at the time was to someday be commissioned to design and paint a much larger and grander mural in the Sanctuary of a sacred space. Alas, this was not to be...until exactly 30 years later!

The finished mural 'Trinity AD 1981' in its humble setting at the parish hall of St. Mary's Basilica.

Although the mural was a fairly modest size and scope, it generated a lot of notoriety in the local media. I think the main reason for this was the audacity of an 'outsider' taking his unlovely pencil sketch into the hallowed offices of the Archbishop with the confidence that it would be honored by a designate wall on which to flesh it out to a full-blown mural. Take that!

My mother Shirley Gaudet stands with the Archbishop James Hayes and myself on the occasion of the unveiling.

Success ALWAYS leads to more success!

In my experience, one success ALWAYS leads to more success and this was a good test for that theory. Soon after the completion and unveiling of this early mural, I was recruited as a 'liturgical design apprentice' to the eminent Interior Decorator and Architect the (late) Reverend Father Toby McIvern with the Montreal design firm Desmarais and Robitaille Inc. where I worked for two very formative years. 

Indeed, Fr. Toby's glowing letter of endorsement was key to my much later commission of 2011/12  to design and paint a huge, ambitious mural in the coveted 'sanctuary' of Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church in Saskatoon. 

(The late) Reverend Father Toby McIvern posed for a quick pencil sketch on 11/05/85. The decorative 'doodles' in the background were rescued out of the wastepaper basket as Toby tossed them out after a chat on the phone.

I have chosen these particular artworks to drive home the point that artistic vision and 'inspiration' remain potent and powerful forces even in today's world; they are not outmoded artifacts of a bye-gone era. 

Working high up on the scaffold on the upper right-hand side of 'March of Trinity' aka 'Trinity 2011'.

Imagine my state of mind working on the ambitious mural that covered the entire sanctuary wall of Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church fully 30 years after the humble 'Trinity AD 1981'. Words like 'ecstasy' and 'euphoria' come to mind...if only things were that simple.




If you want to take a closer look at the work-in-progress of this 2011 mural, check this video which pans across the entire surface and proffers some intimate views obtainable only by high-definition zoom lens, as the artwork soars to a height of almost fifty feet at the apex.

30 years after the creation of 'Trinity AD 1981' in Halifax I was honored to stand with His Excellency Roman Catholic Bishop of Saskatoon Donald Bolan and Father Sabah, parish priest of Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church in Saskatoon, SK. on  03/03/2012, the day of  the official unveiling ceremony of 'March of Trinity' aka 'Trinity 2011'.

Not wanting to be typecast in any way shape or form as a 'religious' artist, I have created a prodigious number of murals across Canada over the past 30 years in the secular realm. Here is a selected mural portfolio with The Urban Wall in Saskatoon to give you an idea.


In case you were wondering, I remain to this day a successful kidney transplant thanks to the 'Gift of Life' from my loving brother Steven. He is doing well after 33 years too! One of my long-term goals is to be recognized as the World's Longest Surviving Kidney Transplant Recipient and at over 33 years I am definitely in the running. Just sayin'.

Mural to Hibernate ( 'til spring '13 )

Mounting this mural will not be easy.

It comes as no surprise with a mural project of this scale that the permanent mounting will be a formidable undertaking, especially now that the planning committee has decided that the superstructure will be engineered to hold the fifty 4' x 8' panels up so that the bottom will begin ten feet in the air. This means that the top of the mural extant will soar a full thirty feet off terra firma. Considering that the surface of the mural is a whopping one-thousand and six-hundred square feet, it will constitute an engineering challenge to overbuild the structure to withstand the inevitable force of what can amount to gale force winds here on the Canadian prairies. That is a huge 'sail'! 

In the coming months, we will be unveiling the master plan for the dedicated site where the mural will be installed, just south of Young School facing the #2 highway. The plan is to erect the mural on its own site complete with a drive-in access off the highway, a rest stop with washrooms and of course a viewing bench at the so-called 'sweet spot' where the view is optimal. I mention this because you will find that a certain distance is required for the best viewing experience...too close a viewing position will be counter-productive as it is so huge that the whole thing will not be visible. I don't think there will be any issues with distant viewing; I have looked at the mural from as far away as bout 100 feet (inside the rink) and can report that a distance of twice that far would still be well within reason.

Taking this into consideration, the committee has in their wisdom opted to contract with an engineering firm in Saskatoon to draw up and certify the plans for the steel structure that must be over-built by a factor of X10 to ensure that it truly is permanent.

Thankfully, we have a very generous corporate sponsor in place that is underwriting the cost of engineering. Now the trick is to generate the final chunk of financing required to pay for the actual steel, cement and hardware that the engineers will call for with their plans.

Nor will it be cheap.

Word on the street is that the cost of erecting this mural will likely surpass the fees that I have required for my professional services as the designer and painter of the mural proper! 

But it WILL happen. In the spring of '13.

Recalling that the mural was painted inside the hockey rink at Young, it only stands to reason that as the weather evolved from fall to early winter, it was imperative to clear out of that space to allow the rink committee to proceed with preparing the natural ice for the onslaught of the hockey season, as the Young rink hosts a very busy agenda of games starting pdq.

Although I would be the first to freely admit that this 'process' is about as exciting as watching paint dry, I thought I would faithfully chronicle the de-construction of the mural as it came down off its temporary frame and was securely packed and stored in its steel container ( "C-Can" ) where it will hibernate until the spring of 2013.

Dismantling the temporary frame was a fairly tedious undertaking that involved a lot of un-screwing. We planned ahead and used screws throughout in anticipation that it would have to disassembled after the mural's completion.

Shewin and I stacked all of the panels in position in the corner of the rink closest to the exit, in preparation for their winter storage.

I suppose that this picture might seem to be rather anti-climatic...but trust me, it took a LOT of energy to get to this point where all that remains standing is the basic skeleton, ready to drop onto the rink floor for the final dis-assembly. Remember, the frame is a full eighty by sixteen feet, so it represents a bit of work even at this late juncture.

With the help of a couple of very generous volunteers, we were finally able to send the wall back down on its face for the final un-screwing. As you can see, only about three pieces of lumber were shattered in the process. Not bad considering the huge 'boom' that occurred at the moment of impact.

Once all of the panels were removed from the frame and stacked methodically in the corner  of the rink, we recruited several generous volunteers from the community to assist in carrying each panel into the C-Can for winter storage.

All of the fifty panels were stacked with spacers in between and beneath to allow air flow as well as to prevent any shifting over the winter. Great care was taken to ensure that all the panels were not allowed to contact any of their neighboring panels so that scraping or scratching of the precious painted surfaces would be prevented.

A final sweep of the snow, dust and debris was carefully performed by Dennis Sather of the Centennial Committee before the C-Can was sealed for the winter.