MOOSE JAW — Moose Jaw artist Patti Lewis is thrilled that a painting she created to honour SaskPower’s new Great Plains Power Station has been officially unveiled.
The Crown corporation held a grand opening at the 370-megawatt plant — located southeast of Moose Jaw — on Dec. 17, with nearly 100 dignitaries and workers in attendance. Lewis’ four-foot by six-foot artwork — called "Powering the Prairies" — was revealed at the end of the ceremony, with the piece a mix of blues, whites, greens, yellows and browns.
“The original unveiling was supposed to be in August, so I’ve been on pins and needles since then to have the date finalized,” said Lewis. “(So) yeah, I was very excited to be part of it and (to have been) asked to be part of it.”
A consulting company contacted Lewis in May after seeing her website, with the consultant discussing what she could create and the potential commission price. Once those issues were settled, the consultant sent the information to SaskPower for approval, which gave the green light — she started painting in June — and told her to be finished by July 31. However, there were delays, and the official unveiling didn’t occur until now.
“So it took about 30 painting hours to finish,” the artist said.
SaskPower sent some photos of the power station to Lewis for inspiration, although she decided to visit the site herself. After attending a sale in Wakamow Valley, she and her husband Daniel — who takes photographs for her — drove to the venue and snapped some photos. She then realized that the artwork needed to have the power plant’s large stack in it.
“And then, of course, the background at that time … was all brown. So, you can’t just do a big grey building. You have to have some colour,” she said.
Saskatchewan is known for its canola, so Lewis painted a large yellow band across the middle of the artwork. Furthermore, she included a small band of purple to represent flax, while she added trees in the background to represent a windbreak.
With a chuckle, Lewis added that she used “lots of brushes” to create the painting, while she almost used a full bottle of green and three different shades of blues.
Lewis has been painting for almost 30 years, starting out using books to learn and then taking lessons to grow her skills. In the 1990s, she took a drawing course because she wanted help with perspective in her creations, while she then took a watercolour course in the 2000s.
While Lewis uses watercolour for most of her work, “oddly enough,” she noted that the SaskPower-commissioned mural was made with acrylic because it works better for larger pieces.
Lewis’ next goal is to continue to grow her business, Patti Lewis Art, and work her way into retail spaces so she can sell her paintings that way. She noted that her biggest sellers are coasters — they’ve been “selling great guns all over the place” — that feature four-inch vinyl stickers on ceramic tiles.
The artist also hopes to continue completing commissions that people ask her to do.
After the ceremony, Mayor James Murdock and SaskPower president/CEO Rupen Pandya both praised the vibrant artwork.
“I love seeing the painting that Miss Lewis completed. That is so striking, especially with the beautiful yellow canola in it,” said Murdock.
Said Pandya, “Every generating asset that is built in the province of Saskatchewan has a commissioning piece, and that is just a beautiful work of art, so we’re super proud to have that hanging in the facility … in the main building in the control room.”
For more information, visit www.pattilewisart.com.
