Many folks in the neighbourhood of Westview have a great view of the ocean, including artist and musician Clancy Dennehy.
Most days, when looking out his window, Dennehy said he observes the many types of boats in qathet waters, such as tug boats, sailboats, ferries and barges. A while back, after passing by a wall with graffiti on it outside the day care at Michigan Avenue and Burnaby Street, Dennehy, being an artist, came up with an idea for a mural project.
"I live across the street from the day care, and the wall had graffiti on it; it was kind of ugly," explained Dennehy. "I know the owners and they're lovely people, and they're really hard workers."
Dennehy connected with the owners a few years ago, when the artist gave them a Ukrainian sign he had made with a heart on the Ukrainian flag.
"We talk a lot, so I told him, I'd like to make a painting on the wall," said Dennehy. "He asked, 'how much?' And I said, "It is free, okay?"
The day care owners loved Dennehy's idea of painting a colourful, "comic-like" parade of boats on the wall.
"We talked about this last fall, and then when spring came, I put my plans in order," said Dennehy. "Part of my artwork [from the past] was making folk art versions of boats in 3-D form."
Dennehy lived in coastal Vancouver for decades and also Halifax, where he attended art school.
"I just decided I'll make it a parade of boats," said Dennehy. "I like the harbour and all the boats. I took the ideas of folk art and sketched the boats from memory."
Across the sea/blue sky colour painted as the backdrop on the wall are all kinds of cartoonish, fun and colourful vessels.
"It's all the boats you'd see out in the ocean going by: the tug boats, cruise ships and the fishing boats, and that's all the boats we can see from up here on the hill," said Dennehy. "It’s just a simple idea, and it's kind of playful, a little bit child-like, but there's some adult jokes in there, too."
Looking more closely at the mural, passersby can spot a Tesla Cybertruck on one of the ferries. Tex the grizzly bear also gets the spotlight as a captain on his own boat in the mural. Whales and salmon also made it into the artwork.
"I have a certain style of cartooning, and the boats are one thing I've done since I was a kid," said Dennehy. "I went to the wall with a pencil and just sketched them right there."
Dennehy said he painted in the early morning and evening because of the heat.
"It's a great way to meet the neighbours, because you're out there on the grass," said Dennehy. "It's a time capsule of this moment, something people can laugh about in the future."
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