Our exterior mural
The full size of our building was painted summer 2010 by Wanda DeWaard. The mural covers the entire wall and it features mountains, flowers with some small wildlife and honey bees. It is on the north side of our building in the Sunrise Rotary Park.
To see more mural photos
see our Photo Gallery Pages and click on the Building tab.
How the
Cranbrook Veterinary Hospital
Wall and Painting came to be.
Jamie and Janice approached me about doing a mural for the Clinic’s Wall.
Through inspiration from Janice’s images I came up with a drawing with the insertion of the animals you see. The painting needed to have a large Fisher Peak and the beautiful Balsamroot Flowers (Sunflowers) we see on the sunny hillsides in the spring. Jamie and Janice asked for a bold and bright painting.
As we talked about the ideas around the project I kept seeing in my mind’s eye the boldness of Lauren Harris’s mountain paintings. You may notice Fisher peak on the wall is from the angle seen from Wycliffe area. Fisher Peak on the painting is the more familiar view from Cranbrook. The wall was started in May 2010 and Finished in October 2010 with a total of 540 hours.
It was interesting working through the rain and thunderstorms of that summer. I have to chuckle about it. It makes me love and appreciate the wall all that much more. I met many wonderful people who gave me kind words and encouragement. After the mural was done I worked through the winter and spring to finish the painting. It is rewarding to see the project as a whole. I have to thank Jamie and Janice for giving me this opportunity to do such a large work of art. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Take Care
See my website Wanda DeWaard
Inside Our Front Office
7-foot wide oil painting
The oil painting now hangs in our front office. It was also painted by Wanda DeWaard She is the same artist who painted our outside mural last summer.
Wanda DeWaard's Biography
It all started one summer’s day in 1971, when I was born in the little town of Golden B.C. as Wanda Jerke. I spent my days there living next to the slow moving Columbia River, riding bikes, always colouring and drawing.
My mother kept me in stock of an endless supply of Crayola’s and colouring books. It was in 1977 my family moved to Cranbrook BC. My creative artistic journey is one I kept to myself, mostly drawing in my spare time throughout my school years.
One day, as an adult, I had an epiphany and decided to venture off to study art in 2004/2005 at The Victoria College of Art & Design (VCAD). This experience was pivotal and gave me a firm platform to continue on from. It was a beautiful period of my life that I cherish.
Since returning to Cranbrook I have painted seriously and continuously, exploring and pondering what path I will take as an artist. My work is evolving as my understanding about my own work does.
A much admired art teacher of mine said to me, “You do not try to find a style. You learn to paint and your style will come forth from inside you. So do not worry about this, it will come.”
see the Cranbrook Veterinary Hospital photo tours page
See Larger image click on image
The exterior wall before the mural. The Sunrise Rotary moved the nice tree to within their city park adjacent to this veterinary hospital.
Wanda up on the scaffolding painting the first layers of the exterior mural.