Kookaburra adds colour to Torquay vet

THE Torquay and Surf Coast Vet has added a pop of colour to their once grey wall with a new mural.

Dr Kate Gittings owns the vet and has always wanted to decorate the outside wall, while at the same time looking for ways to stop graffiti.

“I love giving back to the community because it is something that everyone can celebrate,” she said.

The artwork captures a kookaburra, made up of a number of geometric shapes, with the chosen bird highlighting the work the clinic does for wildlife in the local area.

“We do see so much wildlife in here that we do out of goodwill and that’s how I give back to the community and it’s nice to have him up there to symbolise that,” Dr Gittings said.

Local artist Amanda Carson took on the challenge of painting the mural, a change from her usual style of painting birds onto wood.

“I love birds and I love geometric shapes because I’ve got a graphic design background, so I’m very angular and that’s how my Geo bed came about,” she said.

Scaffolding was set up on the roof of the building, requiring Carson to carry her paints and equipment up and down each day, with the mural taking 12 days to complete.

This project was the first mural she has ever done and largest scale work yet, describing the process as challenging and a learning curve.

 

“The besser block was really difficult because it’s so absorbent, we had to do a double undercoat,” she said.

“With the besser brick because you don’t just get to do a stroke, you do a stroke and then you have to fill all the holes, so I think it took probably twice as long.”

The sun also posed a number of challenges as heat bounced off the tin roof, making it difficult to blend the paint, drying as soon as it hit the wall.

Dr Gittings enjoyed watching the daily process of the mural come together and the amount of detail that’s gone into it.

“I love that it’s a geo bird and it’s a beautiful bird, but with just with a slight difference, I think that’s awesome,” she said.

The kookaburra is the second mural to be added to the building, with the first one reflecting the landscape of the Surf Coast and featuring Dr Gittings.

To see more of Carson’s work, head to her Instagram page @mandsandco