Wind in the Grass
Two connected Bell Box Murals for Toronto Ward 8
In the summer of 2024 I painted a mural around both sides of these two large utility boxes at 288 Hillhurst Boulevard for the Bell Box Murals Program. I'm fascinated by the beautiful movements of tall grasses in the wind, and in this piece I tried to illuminate that movement with waving lines in the background and in the colouring, and I added a pop of unrealistic bright colour to the stems and seedheads of the grass to bring loving attention to their beauty. The birds and butterflies flying through the scenes contribute to the sense of motion that I am trying to convey with this still painting. These boxes face condominiums on both sides, and people who live in each one only ever see one side of the boxes. So although I see it as one continuous scene all the way around, for most people it's a one sided mural. Lots of people stopped to say hi while I was painting, and many had entertained guesses about whether I was painting the same thing on both sides, but hadn't looked until I invited them around to see it. Several children contributed a few brushstrokes to the artwork, and some left their initials on the far side of the box, so this mural truly belongs to the whole community!