“Imma do one, maybe two murals this year.”
That’s what local artist Carly Jaye Smith told herself back in January, according to a social media post. However, those one or two projects have turned into six murals, taking her from Moose Jaw to Regina and Avonlea to make her mark on other communities in southern Saskatchewan.
Locally, she finished a mural along the Manitoba Expressway earlier this summer. She’s now working on a two-part mural on the concession and equipment buildings at the Bell Park ball diamonds. On Tuesday, she held a paint day where some young baseball players helped her.
Another big project she’s working on is a 50-foot mural that will be installed on a steel pipe at Interpro Pipe and Steel (formerly Evraz Steel) in Regina.
“It’s hard work for sure, but definitely I don’t take it for granted that I’m fortunate to have a list of projects,” Smith said.
She has also taken on a project to paint a mural for the Avonlea Co-op.
“I personally have no connection to Avonlea, but just working with the Co-op here in Moose Jaw, the project is with Co-op Avonlea I should mention, I have connected with them just through that, so it’s amazing,” Smith said.
Being able to share her artwork not just with her hometown of Moose Jaw but with other communities in the area is “hard to kind of wrap your brain around.”
“I’m obviously a Moose Jaw born and raised gal, but just through this art journey and painting in these different communities, I’ve definitely learned and recognized that Saskatchewan, to me, is one big, friendly community,” she said.
Her big challenge now will be completing all six projects before the snow begins to fly.
“I’m trying a new method to my murals this summer where I’m using a product that I can paint in my shop and then you can apply an adhesive to your surface, so that gains me a little bit of production time not having to worry about things like weather and whatnot,” she said.