Murals form part of festive art trail

FESTIVE murals by Ulla Taylor are popping up around town as part of the Ballarat Christmas Art Trail.

A map of the works can be collected from the Ballarat Town Hall and then, and then starting at the corner of Doveton Street South and Sturt Street, participants can check out a series of murals themed around a Krinch.

The Krinch is a drop bear from Ballarat whose tree was burnt down and then her fur turned green with anger and sadness.

Now the Krinch aims to encourage people to use less chemicals and plastic and create recycled or handmade gifts.

“I wanted to make very specifically Ballarat and Australian style art,” said Taylor.

“I was doing some brainstorming and the Krinch was born who is a drop bear that instead of being angry, is trying to be helpful.

“She is reminding people not to pollute and that Christmas is about community motivations rather than going to the shops and buying plastic.”

From there Taylor set out on Australianising some classic Christmas figures.

“It was a launch pad for these weird, wacky things that are based on the five days of Christmas,” she said.

“Instead of the two turtledoves there are peace doves which felt like a necessity since the start of October, and instead of three French hens there is three swamp hens.”

There is also a series of questions for participants to complete and those who do so and return their map to the Town Hall will go into the draw to win one of three Christmas hampers.

Taylor said she hopes the murals can bring people a sense of joy.

“It’s fun to make some interactive works for people to play with and hopefully lighten their mood walking down the street,” she said.

“Hopefully it can get some smiles on dials and get people thinking about some creative approaches to the holiday season.”