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Artist Meghan Arthur is showcasing her eye-catching imagery with a mural in the hairdressing lab at St. Pat's high school this week. - Daron Letts/NNSL photos

Painting a path for the future

By Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Young painter Meaghan Arthur blends simple elements of graphic design in her acrylic paintings to communicate easily decipherable metaphors and feelings. Her use of space and contrast demand attention from the viewer.

The tattoo-inspired painter is showcasing her eye-catching imagery with a mural in the hairdressing lab at St. Pat's high school this week.

The ambitious surrealist painting A Flock of Scissors Taking Flight fills a prominent wall in the classroom. The frantically-flapping scissors morph into birds soaring into the sky. The dispersion of black on white spreading from the floor to the opposite upper corner of the mural suggests a graceful flow that draws the gaze in a dynamic diagonal rise across the length of the wall.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Marilyn Monroe by Meaghan Arthur

In addition to her graphic design, Arthur enjoys sketching and painting stylized portraiture. Her creative use of stencilling toys with uniformity and conformity.

"Art is something I've always had an interest in," she said. "But, since high school I've realized it's something I'd like to do."

Arthur recently graduated but returned to St. Pat's this semester to upgrade her transcript. She is applying to some Alberta art colleges for 2009 where she plans to build a career with her talent as a painter and graphic designer.

Some of her work appeared in Birchwood Gallery last February during a featured exhibit of student art. She cites L.A.-based Argentinian-Mexican tattoo artist Kat Von D as an influence.

"She really inspires me in my art," she said.