One of the Shuswap鈥檚 more prevalent fish-eating raptors was the inspiration for a new mural in downtown Salmon Arm.
The east side of the building at 120 Hudson Ave. NE has been transformed into a series of moments showing an osprey鈥檚 descent from the air to catch a rainbow trout from the waters below.
The work is the creation of Adam Meikle of Meikle Studios Social Art House and collaborator Sara Wiens 鈥� with help from Adam鈥檚 brother Wade and other Meikle family members and friends.
It may be the largest painted mural in Salmon Arm and the largest Adam has ever been involved with.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been talking about doing a mural since we were shut down in March (due to COVID-19), and Bill started to get creative and was wondering if I wanted to do a mural,鈥� said Adam, referring to the building鈥檚 owner, Bill Laird.
Though he recently had the building repainted blue, it was still left with a large and very visible blank wall overlooking the Avon parking lot (named after the former Avon Hotel) that Laird thought could be used to showcase some of the 鈥渓ocals.鈥�
鈥淣ot many people would know that an osprey actually transforms himself considerably to go down and get a fish, so when you see it finished, it starts out with the osprey flying at the top, and when you get to the bottom he鈥檚 in full attack mode,鈥� said Laird.
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鈥淪o that鈥檚 the dream, to use up a wall space and sort of give people an opportunity to see how one of the locals supports himself.鈥�
The mural took seven days to paint, with a lot of advance preparation. Part of that included a 鈥渄oodle grid,鈥� a collection of simple doodles marked on the building that would be use to digitally plot the mural.
鈥淚 bring an iPad or cell phone and connect the dots between the doodles,鈥� Adam explained.
In addition to featuring local wildlife, another thing Laird insisted upon was that the finished mural be interactive.
鈥淪o we鈥檙e putting a 鈥渟tand here鈥� sticker on the sidewalk and then, when you take a picture from that perspective, it looks like the bird could be getting you instead,鈥� said Adam.
Adam, Wiens and Laird were excited by the opportunity to create the downtown mural and are already considering future options.
鈥淚 was talking about doing a grebe because they are more fragile as a species than osprey are, and we鈥檙e one of the few places where the grebe nests, so in the future Adam and I might work together to do a grebe somewhere,鈥� said Laird.
Laird suggested that in the future Salmon Arm could have an art walk in the downtown featuring interactive murals, including Adam鈥檚 butterfly painting on the side of Laird鈥檚 colourful Monarch Building, home to the city鈥檚 Innovation Centre.
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