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3536 Roblin Boulevard
'Deer Natural Environment'
16' x 40'; Nova Colour on cinderblock.
This lovely scene was rendered by Sarah Collard in 2013 for Moray Medical Clinic, with sponsorship by Take Pride Winnipeg, City Councillor Paula Havixbeck and Dr. Paul Walton. It was painted over in 2017.
Original notes follow:===
Sarah Collard: "One of the most remarkable topics for conversation about the Charleswood area in
Winnipeg are the deer. Anybody who lives there comments on their prolific presence. Deer are
everywhere. They very commonly feed from planters, grass, trees and just about any green leafy vegetation
in the area. However, they do not understand property lines, so they roam freely from one house to the
next, picking and choosing their meal. Recently I stayed with a nice lady, Anne Ruhr in the East St. Paul
area and I noticed her evergreens were eaten bare 5 ft up the trunk. She said they were fearless and would
come right up to the house, any time of year but were particularly more common now that new houses were
built close by, clearing out the abundant bush leaving the deer with no food supply. Charleswood is a
residential area in Winnipeg, west of Tuxedo and Assiniboine Park. The infamous park hosts the
Assiniboine Park Zoo, The Pavilion holding the permanent collection of Ivan Eyre paintings, the English
Gardens, the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden and it is set in a natural treed area with many paths for walking.
Just south of the Zoo between Roblin Boulevard and Wilkes Avenue, there stands Assiniboine Forest, a
1,100 acre natural forest marking the beginning of Charleswood and home for numerous aspen-oak trees
and white tail deer."
"For this Mural, I wanted to depict the deer in their natural environment, remaining sensitive to the locale.
That is why I placed the deer in the forest, close to a pathway and water. The body of water is actually the
pond found in the Assiniboine Gardens, surrounded by bull rushes and an actual Leo Mol sculpture of a
deer. A couple mallard ducks are found in the foreground with peonies, fox gloves, status, lupins and
hollyhocks found to the left, suggesting the nearby English Gardens. The tall prairie grasses line the
background sky. An angel appeared in the clouds when I was painting it, completely unconsciously. The
white tail deer will often live in fields and meadows favouring broad-leaved trees and they will sleep in
forests for shade. While mating, or in a rut, the bucks will fight over territory using their antlers in sparring
matches. Killing deer during hunting season can be a favoured Manitoba sport. Men rally for the largest
racks and mount them in their living rooms as pride trophies. During the creation of this Mural, a friend of
mine from the city came by to check on me. After he had returned home and my day was almost up, I
noticed a buck slowly peer its head around the corner. It caught me off guard. After an uproarious laugh, I
realized it was my friend playing a joke on me. He had gone home, took the rack off his wall and propped it
up to trick me. It worked. Recently CBC reported a decapitated deer found in the Charleswood area, one
month after I painted this mural (November 25, 2013). They suspect someone wanted it as a trophy, but
reminded the public of hefty fines for poaching. Deer are so prevalent in Manitoba that it is considered
common place to see them at the edge of a highway, run across the road or unfortunately be found as road
kill. Manitoba Public Insurance spends $31 million each year on wildlife collision claims. That is almost the
same figure as their drunk driving claims. So if you are in the Charleswood area, be on the look out for deer,
but be sure to go see my mural on the side of Moray Medical Clinic at 3536 Roblin Blvd, the corner of
Princeton Blvd."
"A baby deer or fawn is located in the grass to the right of the composition. They have a reddish-brown coat
with white spots that helps them blend in with the forest. White-tailed deer are vegetarians (herbivores),
leisurely grazing on most available plant foods such as leaves, twigs, fruits and nuts, grass, corn, alfalfa, and
lichens and other fungi. Occasionally venturing out in the daylight hours, white-tailed deer are primarily
nocturnal, browsing mainly at dawn and dusk. The other species I wanted to highlight was the mallard
ducks, widely known in North America preferring the low lying areas that are calm, undisturbed. Mallards
prefer shallow sanctuaries, but can be found in almost any body of freshwater and are commonly found in
wetlands. The drake, or male, is the more colourful mate. Its green head sits on a white neckband that sets
off a chestnut-coloured chest and grey body. Females are drab brown in colour, but sport iridescent purple-
blue wing feathers that are visible as a patch on their sides. There is a buck in the foreground, a doe behind
with two fawns. This family of deer are the feature presentation in this Mural and important to this area.
They are joined by a buck far off in the distance, above the peonies."
"This Mural was a little gift to me from Tom of Take Pride Winnipeg. I had prepared to paint another Mural in
Winnipeg but that was postponed so Tom scrambled around to find me another wall. Simultaneously the
councillor for the Charleswood area, Paula Havixbeck emailed him to tell him of their desire to have a Mural
in their area. It turned out a grant became available and together with the owner of the building, Dr. Paul R.
Walton and Take Pride Winnipeg, the mural came to life. I really enjoyed painting this mural despite the
nippy temperatures, with snow warnings at the end. I painted it in October, over Thanksgiving weekend and
it took me a total of two weeks. A great flower shop, Charleswood Florists located two doors in on the strip
mall, allowed me use of their facilities and the White Tower Greek restaurant, which faces the Mural was an
awesome place for great food, baklava and a feast for the eyes. They have a wonderful faux Mural painted
on the inside by an Italian artist, Sergio Betto. The framed paintings on the wall are not real, they are Murals
which are painted to look real; faux finishing. People were very friendly and encouraging, often coming by
for a visit or dropping off a painting or cookies. I got several offers for Thanksgiving dinner which was
nice. "
"One time over the weekend when I wanted to work in a particular area, I was concerned that someone
would park in my spot, so I called the Public Works Department and picked up a barricade to block traffic. It
was great that they were willing to do that for me. Another great happening was when I tried to colour match
the forest green around the Mural. Benjamin Moore on Portage Avenue matched it perfectly without a
swatch! I had help in the beginning of the Mural from Welland Jennings, a stage hand who works for
I.A.T.S.E, the union of painters and construction workers located in Winnipeg, beside the Public Works
building. Thanks very much to those who billeted me; Welland Jennings and Nick Kowalchuk's family
(executive director of Gas Station Art Centre). It was a great wall and very easy to paint."
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