LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
A newly completed mural in Fort Simpson is part artwork, part marketing tool.

Artist Sarah Bradfield stands in front of the mural of Nahanni Mountain Lodge on Little Doctor Lake that she finished for Simpson Air on Sept. 24. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

With the addition of a clear coat to protect it, Sarah Bradfield finished her creation on Sept. 24. Painted across four panels of Simpson Air's hanger doors, the mural offers a panoramic view of the company's Nahanni Mountain Lodge at sunset beside Little Doctor Lake.

The artwork, which is the largest exterior mural in the Deh Cho, is Bradfield's third major work for Simpson Air. She started in 2012 with a smaller mural on a wall in the company's crew trailer after being invited by some of the pilots to brighten up their living space.

That led owner Ted Grant to ask her to do two large murals on the west side of the company's hanger. Finished in 2013, the murals show Virginia Falls and Little Doctor Lake.

Those two paintings can only be seen from the adjacent air strip. Some people have commented that they like that the new mural can be seen from Antoine Drive, said Bradfield.

At approximately 59 metres squared, Bradfield said she was a bit intimidated by the size of the space she had to fill.

"It's definitely the biggest I've ever done," she said.

To make it more manageable, she focused on small portions at a time. The mural is based on photos Bradfield took at the cabin.

When she started on Sept. 2, Bradfield projected a photo onto the hanger doors at night and traced the outline of the mountains, water and cabin so the scale and profiles were accurate. It took three weeks of painting, with only about three days off during bad weather, to complete the mural.

"I'm glad the weather co-operated enough for me to get it done," she said.

Both Bradfield and Grant see the mural as both artwork and a marketing tool. Grant said he commissioned the first two murals as a way to brighten up the hanger and with the hopes that other Fort Simpson businesses would also spruce up their buildings.

Grant chose Little Doctor Lake as the subject of the new mural because it's a scenic site. Local people recognize it and when tourists see the mural they'll want to go there. For a lot of people the idea of a cabin in the woods is appealing, he said.

"It's the idea of getting away from everything," said Grant.

He joked that the mural would look a lot different if he, and not Bradfield, had painted it.

"It's excellent. She's a good artist. She's creative," he said.

Bradfield, who moved to Yellowknife in January after three years in the village, said she's thankful for the opportunities to paint the murals. Without the commissions, she doesn't think she would have tried painting on a large scale.

Bradfield is now pursuing mural painting as a micro-business and has a Facebook page, Bradfield Muralworks, to promote her art.

"It's something I'd like to continue doing," she said.

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