Oaks Bottom Mural, update

After being commissioned by the Urban Greenspaces Institute to document the historic painting in October, we're starting to shoot again now that the Summer weather has arrived.  

Yes, even if you weren't thinking it: 50,000 square-feet is a kinda large for a painting. While most large murals are being made using printed vinyl sheets, the mural at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge is being hand-painted. Much of the artwork is created using broad brushstrokes, but you  can't tell this while looking across the Bottoms. A couple surprises are included for avid birdwatchers, like the red tail hawk near the center. The giant bird is completed in fine detail down to the feather. 

Hauling and hanging aluminum scaffolding isn't in most artists' vocabulary. And judging from the Portland cafes I drop into, the closest most artists come to this is in carrying around their MacBooks. Artists Dan Cohen and Shane Bennet spending time with aluminum, below. 

If the ground looks funny, that's because it's the roof of Portland Memorial. Photos from the 8th floor coming soon. We set up a few cameras around the roof; this one has just been set up to capture a time-lapse of the West Wall being completed.

-Andrew

Oaks Bottom, Up Close

More than a month ago I started hanging out on the roof of an 8-story building. It looks condemned to most passers-by, who see it from the Springwater Corridor commuter path in Portland, Oregon. The building and the commuter path sandwich one of the best urban wildlife areas in the Pacific Northwest, called the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. I started out spending my free time walking in and around Oaks Bottom. Which is how I ended up on the roof.

The roof of the Portland Memorial Mausoleum is the staging area for ArtFX Murals, a mural painting company from Portland which has started hand-painting the largest mural in North America. Shane and the team at ArtFX will be adding to the stories-tall Great Blue Heron that his father painted in the 1990's.

-Andrew Burke