Saturday, July 12, 2014

Traffic Box Art



In March I submitted a design to Clean St.John's for their Traffic Box Art program.  This program is designed to help reduce graffiti and beautify the city.  This is the 3rd year of the program and annually 8 artists' designs are chosen to be painted on traffic boxes at intersections around the city.




I was lucky enough to have my design chosen for this year and over the last couple of days have painted my assigned box.  The city will apply a protective covering then it should be there til the box is replaced or damaged.   The box is located at the intersection of MacDonald Drive and Portugal Cove Road - a busy and noisy environment to paint in. Here's a 'before' image of the traffic box at a quieter moment.
 





I had lots of support from drivers and walkers on the design and even a couple of painting job offers :).  The weather was hot, hot, hot and windy with the latex paint drying almost as soon as it hit the hot metal of the box.  The first day was truly unbelievable wind and I was covered in paint, creating a whole new set of dedicated painting clothes as the wind whipped the paint off the roller or brush.  Combine that with too much sun and a nasty fly bite on my forehead, I was a mess on all levels.



The positives were many.
  • I created a large piece of art that I likely would not have normally tackled, the box being taller than I am!
  • I completed the piece in about 9.5 hours in pretty extreme conditions of high winds and heat.
  • I pushed my colour theory using a limited palette of latex external house paints.  
  • I connected with a section of the public that may never have seen my art otherwise.
  • I brightened a place in St. John's that I hope will make drivers and walkers smile when they see the box.

9 comments:

RH Carpenter said...

This is wonderful! Sorry the conditions were not the best but you struggled through and it's beautiful :) I do hope it lasts a long time.

Unknown said...

That's so cool! You were creative, ingenious, BRAVE, and very generous of your time and talents! What a fantastic project!

Jennifer Rose said...

looks great :D there needs to be more public art like this out there

Unknown said...

I'm sure all the drivers and walkers will love it. It's a great piece of environmental art :)

Gary L. Everest said...

Hi Jeanette,
May I add my BRAVO for pulling this off! Congratulations on having your design selected and making such a wonderful improvement to the intersection.
I'd like to see what you could do with an entire wall of a building!
Keep making life interesting for the rest of us, Jeanette!
Sincerely,
Gary.

photo restoration said...

looks like gr8 art! I will visit your blog again.

debwardart said...

What fun! I once painted tables for a Mexican restaurant and had a blast - they poured resin on them when they were completed and I went to the restaurant to see how they looked finished! You (and 1,000's more) can see your art every day! And it won't be covered up with plates, napkins and condiment bottles! Love how you wrapped the fish around the box!

Jeanette Jobson said...

"Plein Air" painting, especially in this province, is challenging which is why I don't do a lot of it. The experience was good and the support from the passing public amazing.

It is a great project Katherine and wonderful to see those different spots of colour dotted around the city.

Jen, lots of cities are doing similar public art initiatives these days. They're great for artists, the public and tourism.

Thanks Sue. Once the city has images of all the pieces on their site, I'll post a link to them.

Hi Gary. I don't think I'd be brave enough to tackle a whole wall. Just the box was hard enough to do! But it was fun to do and to see it and others around the city.

Thanks photo restoration.

Deb, what a great idea to have art painted on the tables! Do you have photos of them? What a colourful idea.

I wanted the design have interest on all sides and encourage people to walk around it or drive from alternate viewpoints.

Alex said...

Like always, your work is amazing, Jeanette! It is always a pleasure to see it.