Georgian Bay Mural 2021

While I was perusing the City of Toronto StART website (where I am featured), a dentist contacted me and asked me if I would like to paint a mural on the side of his building located at 1244 Gerrard St East in Toronto, ON. We agreed on this image and I painted it in July 2021 while visiting my family. This was the first time I painted a mural after my dear father passed away. Here is the result:

Owners: Dr Rolf Kreher and Dr. Matthew Kreher, with the artist Sarah Collard in the middle. 2021. Latex on brick, 14 ft x 24 ft
This was an interesting wall because it had hydro wires right in the middle of the wall.
I had the wires professionally wrapped and the City of Toronto StART program was very kind to provide support. This mural is meant to give a visual retreat to the natural surroundings and remind us of cottage country just north of Toronto. I call it “Georgian Bay Pine” because it was emotionally difficult to paint this wall and overcome personal barriers.

Metal Series 2018-2021

I have completed my metal series and it is being exhibited at the Cre8ery Gallery in Winnipeg at 125 Adelaide Street during September 2021. There are 4 paintings in the series but I began with 3 paintings of nuts and bolts and called it the Handy Manny Series (previously). It started as a way to show students how to scale up a drawing and how to paint it, in a step by step manner. As I was teaching this great bunch of high school students at Mennonite Collegiate Institute, I tried to break down my process into comprehensive lessons (and prove that I can draw). I spent a lot of time teaching my son Manny so I was used to thinking in this way. I started off taking photographs of my friend’s metal shop; close up of motorcycles, parts, screws, nuts and engines. I had this vision of all these metal-like paintings filling the walls of his house [since he had bare walls]. Now, I have completed 4 and they are all up at the Cre8ery Gallery currently. http://www.cre8ery.com

Sarah Collard “Nuts and bolts 2: Hook” 2019 36″ x 48″
Sarah Collard “Nuts and Bolts 1: Washer” 2018 36″ x 48″
Sarah Collard “Nuts and Bolts 3: Toolbox” 2020 36″ x 48″
Sarah Collard “Nuts and Bolts 4: Underground” 2021 36″ x 48″

Above is the “Underground”, the 4th painting which I named after the subway system in London, England. The pencil says “Access” on it which is from the Access Credit Union but I like that there are hundreds of interpretations of what “cess” could be.

This is my logo which I designed for Collard Creations when I was in high school. This year I made a digital version of it and silkscreened T-shirts with the logo on it.

Inkpril Sketches April 2020

During the month of April, I took the #inkpril2020 Challenge with my son Manny Wiebe. We endeavoured to sketch once a day for a month and post them on social media. We used Facebook and Instagram. It began with the art teacher at St Mary Catholic Secondary School in Dundas/Hamilton, Ontario posting createwithkiely on Instagram. Here are some of my sketches:

Flooding 2020 in Morris, Manitoba. Normally water would be 100 feet below street level.
These are my fruits and veggies which I eat every day.
Spoon jar with egg in it. (That is my Scottish upbringing)
This is my compassionate daughter whom I am very proud of.
These are my beautiful kids.
Fruit in Cathy Deluca’s plate.
Delicious apples. I think I reworked this but I can’t find the photo.
Have you got the fresh fruit and vegetable theme? Well I was just trying to draw what was in front of me – and as quick as I could. 30 minutes on average. We would compete to see who could get theirs done the quickest. Actually I was motivated to discover what he would do next – and what I would do.
Joan’s parents lived on Danforth Avenue in Aldershot (Burlington) and her mom had a guest bedroom that was filled with loons. So here is to that wonderful Harper family whom I miss.
Reading the word of God and being aware of the spiritual battle within.
Anne of Green Gables
Bob and Doug MacKenzie react to Coronavirus (a prairie perspective).
The magnificent Queen Mother with her kind words. Canada loves you very much.

Midland Park Community Association Mural #2, 2020

The first mural was painted in 2010 by Sarah Collard. The second mural, as seen below was painted in 2020 by Sarah’s son Manny Wiebe (which was a decade later). He painted it inside my home studio in Morris, Manitoba during the winter months. The pandemic just began and I was pleased to have my two kids home with me. Manny and I sketched every day in April and Sonja took walks with us every day. It was a delight.

Above is an image of the actual mural, laid side by side. We used 5.5 panels that were 4 x 8ft making it 8ft x 22ft. This mural is installed on the opposite side of the building that the other mural was on. This one is very close to Birkdale Park.
This is Manny Wiebe in 2020, resting from his excellent work.

This is my studio in Morris, Manitoba and my son Manny painting. He took a time lapse video of himself painting it (click below). I did not paint one stroke of this. I am so proud of him. He even painted the logo and made a stencil of his name. We propped up 2 panels at once. Manny made the music for his video from scratch. He has been making beats and selling them. His real job is in computer graphics, special effects and animation and he is an excellent artist with wonderful technical skill.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZl8f31etn0

St Jean Historical Mural 2019-20

I started this wall in 2019 and finished it in 2020.  It is located on the side of Bigway Grocers in St. Jean, Manitoba and depicts the entire town, both historical and contemporary aspects; Ice road, quad derby, divided boulevard, the cathedral, the 1950 flood, the bridge, farm yards, the convent, the graineries and the ferry.  Thanks to Sonja Wiebe for helping me prime the wall and thanks to Pat Schmicke, owner of Bigway in St Jean for funding it.

Here is a view of the wall in 2020 after I added more details.
Here is a detail of Tessier’s Garage and the notable FLOOD OF 1950.
This is another detail of the 1950 FLOOD and the extent that residents went to just to get supplies. This was declared a national disaster and the government of Canada sent army troops to help. St Jean Baptiste Cathedral is a wonderful place to worship. It is a Catholic Church that has services in french. What a breathe of fresh air. I really enjoy the architecture, language and culture of this little town.

Above is a selfie of me painting it. This is the second time I painted this wall. I had painted it years ago. Let’s hope I did a better job this time?

Graphic Salmon, a mural in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, 2019

  

Graphic Salmon is a mural which is painted on the back alley of a commercial building on 773 Victoria Street, Kamloops, British Columbia (while teaching at NorKam Senior Secondary).  West Way Plumbing and Heating kindly commissioned this mural to stop tagging and brighten up the rear of the building which is attached to a parking lot.    You get a great view while sitting in Dairy Queen or driving west.  Many thanks to Neal and Tonja Perry for their generous contribution to the community.