This mural in Esperance responds to the client brief: Victorian dollhouse with trompe-l’œil window scenes, Australian botanicals loved by her mum, “Aunty Joan”, and in the colours of Esperance.
Crikey luv, what do you call that? An artist’s dream challenge, that’s what it is.
Trompe-l’œil (French for ‘deceive the eye’) is an artistic term for the realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. Trompe l’œil effectively tricks the viewer into perceiving painted objects or spaces as real. The client asked for realistic window scenes, which give a little clue as to the interior — swathes of red velvet curtains, chandeliers, and of course, plenty of dolls / childlike wonder.
Australian botanicals expressly requested: banksia, Sturt desert pea, kangaroo paw.
Victorian dollhouse: The purpose-built space houses the extensive doll collection of “Aunty Joan”, so the vibe had to reflect elements of a dollhouse.
Colours of Esperance: Right, I’ll tell you now. The colours of the Esperance oceans are like no other ocean in the world. I could simply not find a colour match on any paint swatch, so after much research (what a shame, having to visit Esperance beaches! ha ha!), I blended my own colour mix.
Sailors named one bay on Cape le Grande coastline “Hellfire Bay” as reference to the intense electric blue/green colour of the water. It reminded them of the “hellfire” they witnessed during storms — electrical charges that shoot from their masts. (Officially, it’s a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a rod-like object such as a mast. Source Wiki)
Quite terrifying, the sailors named the phenomenon “hellfire” after the eternal fire of hell that tortures sinners. The electric display must surely have had them reflecting on their mortality!
But anyway, Hellfire Bay was named for this electric blue colour… And it was this blue colour I had to reproduce as a paint colour.
Day 8 on this job: so cold I’m wearing 2 pairs of pants, Mens thermals, lambs wool vest and fingerless gloves. Thug life yo 🤙🤣
The advantage of semi-transparent paint? It creates amazing dances with the layers underneath. The disadvantage? Takes 3x longer to get solid coverage as a colour on its own 
Sooooo we’re adding another day to the project!!!! This video is Day 13.
The mural took 14 days in total to complete, with a one-inch brush to get the level of detail required for trompe-l’œil. I would have liked to spend another week on it, but husband was telling me I was needed at home.
The mural created media buzz and even became part of the Esperance Mural Trail. Woo hoo!
