Creating a work of art intended to disappear into the background may not seem like a triumph, but a local artist is feeling honoured for her inclusion in a unique part of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

This mural of an orca whale and her calf is comprised of 231 individual paintings by Canadian artists including Red Deer Lake resident Wendy Palmer. The mural was located where medals were awarded at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Red Deer Lake artist Wendy Palmer said her 12-inch by 12-inch painting of a beach in Tofino will be seen by millions of people, but the first thing viewers will notice is the 20-foot long killer whale with her calf swimming beside her.

Red Deer Lake artist Wendy Palmer contributed this acrylic painting, entitled "Tofino Morning Fog," to a mural by hundreds of Canadian artists featured at the Olympics. It forms part of the white area at the mother whale's chin.

Palmer’s painting is like one piece in a puzzle. The beach in Tofino is an artwork on its own and stands alongside 230 other paintings which make up one large mural.

The mural, called “Kunamonkst”, was unveiled at the 2010 Winter Olympics on Feb. 13. Palmer said the mural was in a prime spot and will be seen by the many tourists visiting Vancouver during the Games.

“Oh – millions. It’s in a prime location where they handed out medals,” said Palmer. “They’re selling posters (of the mural) worldwide and they’ve done a documentary on it, which will be aired on television. Once the Olympics are over the mural is going to be shown at the Galliano Inn on Galliano Island (B.C.)”

Palmer is among some accomplished painters who also contributed to the project including Robert Bateman, Fred Peters and Roy Henry Vickers.

Albertans Lewis and Paul Lavoie and Phil Alain orchestrated the project, keeping the image of the final mural secret from each artist invited to paint a panel. Participating artists were given a 12-inch by 12-inch panel with some abstract shapes and base colour requirements on it. The artists then had to create a painting incorporating those shapes and colours.

“You don’t have a clue what it’s going to be,” said Palmer. “It’s like doing a puzzle and not knowing what it’s going to end up like. They say murals are about unity through diversity. Each panel is made with different types of paint and styles and it all comes together into one.”

Palmer said she gets a kick out of doing murals. She designed one mural with Red Deer Lake School students and she participated in another mural of a horse that was exhibited at the Calgary Stampede last summer.

The invitation to participate on the mural for the Olympics brought a new thrill.

“I felt totally honoured to be asked to work with these artists,” said Palmer. “If (the organizers) were looking at the calibre of these other artists’ work and then asking me to join them, then they think my calibre of work will go along with theirs. That’s pretty humbling.”

Palmer’s work reached a new level this summer when Duck’s Unlimited chose her as the 2010 Alberta Artist of the Year.

They selected her painting called “Winter Fox Trot” for their fundraising efforts, made 100 prints for her and 1,000 prints to sell throughout the year to support the non-profit organization.

“I think that has really elevated my career to another level,” said Palmer. “Now I’m seeing people on my website from across Canada.”

Showing “Winter Fox Trot” in New York in the summer at an Artists For Conservation exhibition also had a lasting effect on her career. At the exhibition the participating artists met with scientists working at the Museum of Natural History who surprised Palmer with their gratitude for nature artists.

“They told us realism artists have documented, from way back in time, how we lived,” said Palmer. “It’s the art that they have learned from. They learned from hieroglyphics and from the renaissance. Even now, for example, my red fox (the subject of “Winter Fox Trot”) in 500 years will there be any more red foxes? We don’t know. The paintings capture people’s hearts more than photographs and they’re archival, meaning they’ll last longer than photographs.”

Since that meeting in New York, Palmer has decided to dedicate her new paintings to capturing the beauty of the foothills including the wildlife, the flora and the landscape.

“I really want to document and paint southern Alberta,” said Palmer. “We really do live in a beautiful country.”

The mural unveiled at the Olympics can be viewed online at www.muralmosaic.com/Kunamokst/artists.html

To see more of Wendy Palmer’s artwork go to www.wendypalmer-artist.com

tneely@okotoks.greatwest.ca

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