Bold and colorful

I've taken a bit of a break from the mural blog, but am ready to dive in again. This summer hasn't been as good for mural sightings as some others. But I have managed to gather a few goodies.

In the days ahead, I'll be posting my latest finds - mural photos collected along Commercial Drive in Vancouver. (Sorry, no street coordinates, but they were all sighted along Commercial Drive between East 1st Avenue and Venables.)

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

Take a look at this beauty, painted on the side of a produce market. The rich colors and energetic figures make you want to move those piles of flats and boxes to get a better look!

(If anyone has more information about this or any mural you find posted here, please let me know and I'll gladly update with titles, artist names etc.)

New murals added Mondays and Thursdays.

Playground whimsy

Nothing deep here - just a couple of playground murals. The first sunflowery one is in Douglas Park in Langley. We pass it on our walk almost every day.

The beach scene is found in Riverfront Park in Kamloops. Doesn't it make you want to just grab a bucket and a shovel and start digging?

Forest fire memories

This mural along Highway 97 between Westbank (now West Kelowna) and Kelowna is a sobering reminder of the devastating Okanagan Mountain Fire of 2003. It shows the burning of the Kettle Valley Railway trestles. Twelve wooden and two steel trestles were destroyed in the fire, but they have since been restored by the Myra Canyon Restoration Society.

Logging memories

A magical dragon scene used to decorate the side of this building on the White Rock Promenade. But in August 2008 it was replaced with this scene from B.C.s logging history. (Gorgeous painting - it should be in a gallery!)

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Orca on display

This decorative orca lives at the Victoria ferry terminal (Tsawwassan departure). It's part of the "Orcas In the City" project which raised over $400,000 for charity in 2004. It's beautiful from every angle.

Totem Town

(Click on photo to enlarge)

This Victoria mural depicts a scene from the past, when aboriginal communities ringed the coast and elaborately carved canoes were the main mode of marine transportation. The settlement in this mural reminds me of what you'd have found in the northern interior of BC, say around Hazelton.

Fish Beware!

(Click on photo to enlarge)

I love the shocked look in the eyes of these fishies in this stylish back alley mural (Victoria BC). I wonder if it has anything to do with the business next door. Worse yet, maybe they watched the videos!

Critters and Sir Hornswoggle

This is some of the company you'll have as you explore the Port Alberni waterfront. (In fact, when I first encountered Sir Hornswoggle on the pier, I was sure he was fellow sighseer.)

Alberni - nautical

This mural, also in Port Alberni, commemorates a sea disaster. On Monday, January 22, 1906, the coastal passenger liner SS Valencia, en route from San Francisco to Seattle, was wrecked on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island (near Bamfield) and 136 people perished.

Gray's Whales mural

In Port Alberni we saw a mural with another kind of whale. This mural of Gray's Whales was painted by Jeff King.

Parksville killer whales

But killer whales aren't popular only on northern Vancouver Island. These are swimming around Parksville

Port Hardy killer whales - 4

These beauties were swimming amongst the flower hangers at the front of the grocery store

Port Hardy killer whales - 3

Here's another chubby black-and-white cutie. (They do look cute, don't they - water pandas!)

Port Hardy killer whales - 2

I love the interesting effect of the killer whale mural painted on the truck trailer displayed against the ocean in the background - somewhat surrealistic.

Port Hardy killer whales - 1

A favorite north Vancouver Island subject of murals is the killer whale. In Port Hardy, we saw them everywhere.

Here is one painted on the school.



(Notice the muralist Razmpoosh - who also painted these Agassiz murals.)

Ink Island

What a colorful, surreal place. (Notice the red bird on left side of the building.)

The beavers are coming!

Yikes, these furry creatures look big enough to take on the cars! I think they're beavers. It's a shame so much of the painting is hidden by vehicles.

Faux storefronts

I think these fake store windows with their old-fashioned merchandise are fun. They're also from Courtenay.

Native roots

This mural, also from Courtenay, reflects the First Nations part in the history of Vancouver Island.

Harbour scene

Can't you just hear the gulls and smell the sea? This beautiful painting is of the historic Courtenay waterfront.

Hidden in plain sight

After our time at Powell River last September, we took the ferry to Vancouver Island and Courtenay - Comox.

This landscape featuring flowers decorated the tops of the stores down one of the streets in Courtenay. It's a a beautiful painting and a pity it isn't more in-your-face.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

Deep woods find

I've been meaning to wake up this mural blog for a while now. Though I haven't photographed many new murals lately, it is the season when I'm again in the mood for murals and mural hunting. I'll try to post new murals twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays)

We'll start with a few that have been moldering in my collection, just waiting for their moment in the spotlight.

We came upon this primitively painted storage tank on our vacation last year, as we hiked through the forest from the north to south side of Savary Island (nearest city - Powell River).



As I said, I'll be posting murals twice a week now (Mondays and Thursdays) so come back often to see what's new!

Nooks and crannies of Vernon

Here are a few more murals we discovered on our trip to Vernon last summer. These aren't on any tour brochures, and I don't know the artists, but they are lovely street surprises nevertheless.

Powell River - photo memorabilia

Here are a few Powell River murals that look like they jumped right out of someone's photo album.

"1910 Unidentified Fisherman"

"Sole Survivor 1911 Herman Roesch"

"William (Billy Goat) Smith CA. 1932"


We thought the sign above the butcher shop was cute.

Powell River - where the logging is legendary

I did not know Paul Bunyan and his blue ox were connected to this place...

Who will buy?

Along the same Kelowna walk you'll find these delightful mosaics - replicas of old-fashioned fruit adverts.