Look up! Look way up, Prince George, and have a peek at the banners beautifying Highway 97 - Central Avenue and the Hart.
The Highway Banners for the City of Prince George are designed and created by local artist Laura Chandler, a retired school teacher of fine arts.
Chandler saw the call for submissions through the Prince George & District Community Arts Council newsletter that members are sent on a regular basis.
The challenge was to depict the four seasons as they appear in Prince George.
Chandler created four banners, each with an animal on it that she has seen in her own yard, and added the cutbanks into the scenery that made them uniquely Prince-George-only artwork.
"It was a challenge to enlarge the original images," said Chandler, who participated in the B.C. Lions Society Spirit Bear project. "The banners had to be painted using acrylics with much bolder colour to compensate for the much larger size."
The banners are three feet by seven feet.
"The banners don't look that large when they're hanging on the poles." she laughed.
There are 200 banners that will be hung around town for two years or more.
Because Chandler tends to be a more detailed painter, she had to keep in mind a more simplified and stylized approach to this project, she added.
There's a fox, bear cub, moose and deer, each in a different season, with the cutbanks in the background.
Chandler said she wondered if the look of her work would be altered when the banners were printed.
"When they did arrive, I was very happy with the painterly quality of each banner and the 3D look they have," Chandler explained. "The colours are very rich, which is very pleasing."
Chandler has participated in the Two Rivers Gallery art auctions, Artists in the Garden Tours as well as the Creative Fusion project and other murals with the Community Arts Council, including the most recently unveiled Re-Claimed Project.
"It was truly an honour to paint these banners," said Chandler.
For more information about Chandler visit www.laurachandler-visualartist.com.
