Image: L. Gomes / PML / Marianne Palmer painting the mural at the entrance of the Chilliwack Military Museum.

By Laurice Gomes

Chilliwack Mural Festival

Not just a pretty picture: Chilliwack artist creates poppy mural on steps of Military Museum

Jul 11, 2022 | 2:43 PM

CHILLIWACK — People taking a stroll down Wellington Ave. might come across local artist, Marianne Palmer, painting poppies at the entrance of the Chilliwack Military Museum. In preparation for the Chilliwack Mural Festival on Aug. 20, Palmer is using bold brush strokes to depict the symbolic red poppies.

“Amber Price bought a painting from me last January and asked me if I would be interested in doing a mural,” Palmer explained, referring to Price, who is the co-founder and director of the Chilliwack Mural Festival. “It was her that got the whole thing in motion and found the military museum and we connected.”

Palmer said the inspiration for the poppy painting began with her imagination, and in good time, with photos of a poppy field overseas.

Image: L. Gomes / PML / A sketch of the mural Palmer intends to paint.

“It started off with a rough idea in my head and then I started looking at images of poppies on the internet,” she said. “I also had two friends from the United Kingdom who sent me photos of poppies because the poppies here are not the same as the ones you find in Flanders Fields. Luckily, it was a time of year when they were blooming.”

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Price and Palmer’s collaboration for the mural was a serendipitous one, with social media and a brick-and-mortar store playing a role in the encounter.

“Marianne started showing up in my Facebook feed and she does really beautiful pieces of local, natural scenes,” Price explained. “So, I hired her on commission to do a piece for my husband on top of Mt. Thom; I had seen work by her featuring Bridal Falls and areas like that.”

Image: L. Gomes / PML / Amber Price, co-founder and director of the Chilliwack Mural Festival.

After spending some time at Cornerstone Framing, Price explained that the owner, Krista Butt, always has local artists on display—Palmer was one of them.

“She had maybe eight or nine pieces of Marianne’s on the wall that were all flowers,” Price expanded. “Her style, her bold flowers, her connection to local nature all seemed like the right mix.”

So, Price approached the Military Museum and asked if they would be open to the idea of a poppy mural, and the rest is history.

“They were thrilled with the idea, so we pursued all of the proper steps to have mural approval and now she’s painting there,” Price said, beaming proudly.

As the talented artist knelt to paint the poppies in full bloom, passers-by took notice, and stopped to admire and inquire about the task.

Image: L. Gomes / PML / People passing by stopped to chat with the artist about her work.

“I think the message will be clear about the poppies in the Military Museum, and I’m just hoping that people will come by and be delighted as they walk in and just feel like there’s something beautiful out front of the Military Museum,” the artist said.

Image: L. Gomes / PML / The mural will be a part of the Chilliwack Mural Festival in Aug.

Price remarked that finding local talent to be a part of the mural festival was high on the priority list.

“With something like a mural festival, it’s really important to find and feature local artists to ensure that the talent that’s here gets a chance to express themselves alongside world-class talent,” she said.

More information about the Chilliwack Mural Festival can be found at https://www.chilliwackmuralfestival.com/