Painting the Wellington Dam wall mural, Western Australia

 On Sunday we took a drive out through the beautiful Ferguson Valley to Wellington Dam in the Collie Hills to see the work in progress on the new HUGE mural being painted on the 367m x 34m wall face of the Wellington Dam, a surface area of more than 12,000 square metres. The mural is being created by Canberra born artist Guido Van Helton, who is renowned throughout the world for his photorealistic large scale murals. The mural is reputed to become the largest mural in the world painted by a single artist. Guido's work is amazing, you can see more of it here: https://www.guidovanhelten.com/projects

The wall will be the centrepiece of the new Collie Mural Trail which will include five additional murals, painted by five selected artists throughout the town of Collie. 

The work on the wall is accessed by a mechanical swing-stage which can be raised and lowered, however will need to be dismantled to move across the wall. 

For three weeks before he started on the project Guido met with people in Collie, asked about their lives, looked through their photo albums and collected photos. South West Times Press Reader

Guido Van Helton -  Our WA Parks - lead artist appointed to mega mural

First we looked at the wall from the lower level. From here you can really see the scale of the work. It will be amazing to visit a few times to see the work progress. 

About half way along the wall you can see where Guido has started sketches for another part of the mural. It really astounds me how these artists can work to such a large scale and get the proportions so correct, especially when he can't stand back and look. 

After viewing from the bottom we went up to the lookout for another view. From here we could have a closer view of Guido working. In the pic below you can see him painting with a large paint brush. He was also working with a paint sprayer. The wall surface is prepared before the work on the actual mural begins. 

It is midway between spring and summer here, so a good time to work - although it is raining here today! 

In the photo below can you see the piece of paper in his left hand? This is a photo he is referring to as he works. 

It truly is an amazing project and I look forward to seeing the final result in a few months, and bringing you more photos. 

Fore more information on this project (if you have questions about the paint being used refer here): Collie Mural Art Project

The Wellington Dam is located within the 17,000 hectare Wellington National Park, consisting of Karri, Jarrah and Marri forests surrounding the Collie River Valley.

Built in 1933, the Wellington Dam wall formed part of the Government public works program, designed to create hundreds of jobs for people during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. 

In 1990 the Wellington dam was discontinued as the primary source of potable water in the region. The State government announced in 2009 a $40 million package to upgrade the wall to today’s engineering standards. The dam wall is 34 metres high and 367 metres wide. The area is popular for recreation, walk and bike trails and camping at two designated camping areas, as well as water skiing and canoeing. 

We camped at Potter's Gorge at Wellington Dam a few years ago and went bushwalking on some of the trails. It really is a fabulous place to bush camp. I would really like to do this again.

Yesterday we just sat and had morning tea in the picnic area. Lots of people had their boats out enjoying the dam. It was certainly a lovely day for it - unlike the rainy day we have here today.

And of course there always has to be wildflowers. These pea flowers were glorious.

Mega murals are an immerging trend throughout the world, on buildings, grain silos, walls, roof tops and dam walls. They add vibrancy to a town or city and encourage people to stop and look. We have lots in Australia. You can see more about them in Australia here - Australian Silo Art Trail

You can read a few of my blog posts about a few places they can be explored in Western Australia by clicking on the links here: 

Rediscover street art Bunbury, Western Australia

Explore the painted silos art trail - Western Australia

Farm gate art trail, Ravensthorpe, Western Australia

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed seeing the start of the mega mural today. Do you have wall murals where you live? Perhaps you would like to tell us about them in your comments.

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.  

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