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1090 Wall Street
Location Map
William Wallace, an icon of Scotland. Sterling Castle and the Scottish Highlands are in the background.
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Location: W side bet. Sargent and Wellington; East Face
Occupant: Lancer Group International
District: West End
Neighbourhood: Sargent Park
Artist(s): Jennifer Johnson
Year: 2005
Sponsors: West End BIZ, Building Communities Initiative
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Jennifer Johnston: "We wanted a theme here that had something to do with the business name,
Excalibur; which has a medieval feel to it. West End BIZ did not have a Scottish themed Mural
yet, so that's what was chosen. From there, I chose Sir William Wallace as the focus. August
5, 2005 was the 700th anniversary of his death. I finished the Mural just shortly after this date.
So this wall was to commemorate him."
"This was my first Mural after taking a full year off from them. I really enjoyed it. It was a little
unnerving at first because this was the first time for quite awhile I had worked without a partner.
But it was exciting at the same time. The castle in the back is actually Sterling Castle, the site of
the most successful fight he ever had. The small structure to the left of it is the Wallace
Monument. For the scene itself, I spent some time in the library. Scotland itself, besides being
beautiful, has a moody look and feel to it. Some of the photos I saw were absolutely stunning:
the mountains, the colours and the vibrancy. I thought at first that since it was commemorative
that it should be moody, like the movie Braveheart; but then I thought how nice it would look if
you're driving down Wall street in the middle of winter and yet get to see some blue and green
and a beautiful scene!"
"I wanted Wallace depicted in a warrior and victorious context. For both Wallace and his
horse, I used dozens of image references; for instance, just to get the muscles on the horse, how
Wallace is sitting on the horse, what would look right, the proportions of him to the horse, and
so on. Also what I read about him: that he was bigger than the average man, that he had long
red hair, piercing eyes. The clothing I put on him was from an artist rendering of him in the past.
And I watched Braveheart several times! The horse was fun! I spent days on him, and I could
have spent more days on him!"
"I wanted to add a trompe l'oeil effect with the cinder blocks. The trompe l'oeil was fun.
Although there's not a lot of pedestrian traffic there, the people at the Portuguese centre next
door knew me from my Mural there with Mandy in 2002 (see 1080 Wall) and would often
visit."
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