By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
When the Osoyoos Royal Canadian Legion completed its mural project covering essentially every exterior wall with dramatic imagery of soldiers and war, there surely must have been some envy in the Legion halls of the region.
But if that was even the case, it’s no longer an issue in Oliver as the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 97 – Oliver now has its very own stunning artwork across the entire north-facing side of the building.
The project began some months ago after a decision was made to repaint the entire building and put a mural on one side. As the search began for a muralist, a mutual friend of artist Larry Thor Hunter and the Legion’s First Vice President, Dale Young put the two together. Once Hunter had an idea of what the Legion was looking for he came up with a sketch.
Larry Thor Hunter working on the Legion mural.
High on the priority list was that it had to be lighter than the Osoyoos Legion’s very vivid imagery.
Hunter relates the conversation: “Dale said, we don’t want any black silhouettes of soldiers and things like that, we want something a little more inspiring and so I came up with this design,” he says.
Both Hunter and Young chuckle at the fact it didn’t exactly get a rousing response by executive members at first, but eventually they came around to the idea.
“And then everybody just kind of came on board and thought it was a great design, so we went ahead with it,” he adds.
The mural hits on the idea of future generations thanking the veterans as represented in the mural by two young children in a field waving to the pilots of Spitfire fighter aircraft flying overhead on a bright sunny day with poppies flowering around them. The coastline speaks of Europe and without a doubt it’s portraying Holland, although missing a few tulips.
Hunter says the idea was to “not get too complicated” trying to get every battle and accommodate all the different veterans. Instead, they aimed for something that sums it all up, and in a lighter way.
Hunter, who is a member of the Okanagan Art Gallery in Osoyoos was, in his previous career, a mural painter. When asked what he is using to paint the mural he laughs, saying he’s been using Benjamin Moore paint for 40 years.
“I can’t say enough about Benjamin Moore paint,” and in particular a certain blue that he’s been using for the sky for over 30 years.
“It’s called ‘Summer Blue’,” he says revealing his secret. Standing in the parking lot looking at the mural set against the clear morning sky of the South Okanagan it’s immediately evident why he uses that colour as the mural sky blends seamlessly into the big blue sky.
Hunter, along with help from Young, had been working on the mural for about five days at the point the Times Chronicle stopped by. Hunter reckons it will take another five days work to complete after he returns from a short break on the coast to visit his grandkids.
Currently sketched on the wall but not yet painted is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France, set off in the distance with fields of poppies stretching out before it which will give it a nice perspective Hunter says. A small space close to the roof edge will likely have some silhouettes of bomber aircraft, again saying “keeping it simple but instantly recognizable.”
