ART | MURAL PAINTING | UGANDA
Painting a “Sunrise Over Fort Portal”
A mural painting and tile mosaic project.
We have just finished another labor of love here in Uganda.
This is the SIXTH location in the country where we have painted one or more murals.
For the first time we incorporated a tile mosaic into the project. We did this because there was water damage to the bottom of the wall and the paint was peeling off. We found a couple of cracks on the back side of the wall that we think the rain was leaking into, so we did some repairs to those first. We then coated the lower portion of the wall with about an inch of concrete mix. This sealed up the part of the wall that was flaking and peeling, which was also causing some of the concrete to crumble. I wanted to make sure that we had a really solid surface to be able to build the mosaic on.
Once that was in place, we let it dry for a few days before I got started.
It was a bit of a re-learning curve as I haven’t done any tile work since we left Canada almost 5 years ago. But it came back quickly after I got the mortar mix consistency correct.
After that, it was just the tedious process of breaking tiles and then fitting them into their spots.
One of the staff told me today that she has learned something from us.
I said, “Oh really? What is that?”
“Patience!” She said.
She said that when she saw how tedious the project was at the beginning, she couldn’t fathom that I would have the determination to finish it.
It’s quite interesting, actually, because neither Chris nor I are particularly patient in many aspects of our lives (though Africa has taught us lots of patience!), however, when it comes to our art and creations, our patience seems to have no bounds.
The concept for this project was to make an abstract of the surrounding hills of the Fort Portal area, the city we find ourselves in now. We knew that we wanted to incorporate lots of green to truly represent Uganda. Because the tile was such neutral colors, with only hints of blue, green, and yellow, we knew that the bright colors would be above in the painted area.
I managed to do some fun details in the tiles to represent life in this area.
After the bottom was finished, we decided to pull some tiles up into the top area as well and added another house, a waterfall, and the sun.
Beside the house above you can see some small bushes. These were made out of leftover grout that had hardened enough to be like a clay consistency. As I molded it in my hands, I had the inspiration to try and stick it to the wall, to see if I could sculpt something. They aren’t much, but they create a fun added touch, and are right in the middle of the mural, so people are certainly drawn to them.
Realizing that I can mold grout has inspired me further and I hope to incorporate some 3D features to more of our projects down the road.
Once all the tile pieces were grouted and dried, we started on the hillsides. We wanted to have numerous shades of green to represent the colors of Uganda. Uganda is known as the “Pearl of Africa” and this area is one of the greenest of all.
Fort Portal is known as Uganda’s first tourism city.
Our friend Spear was a constant at this project. He loved laying on the floor right in front of the tiles, and we were constantly stepping over him to work on the project.
We had decided at the beginning that we wanted to add a bird into the mural. Chris is the master at realistic animals, so he went to it. He decided on the Ross Turaco which is one of the most common birds of this area of Uganda.
I mixed a paint color that was the same as the grout colour of the tiles, so that we could carry it up to the top. By outlining the hillsides with it, and creating some mosaiced sections with the paint, I feel like it bridged the 2 sections more seamlessly.
We added in yet more details with trees, bushes, flowers and some funky clouds.
We also added more details into the sun to make it pop. Plus Chris added shadows to the things that made sense, adding to the overall feeling of a sunrise.
We also named the mural, put our names on it, and promoted our website on one of the side walls.
In writing this, I realized that this is not the first mural that we have named. We also painted the ‘Window to Uganda’ in Entebbe at the Entebbe Zoo. If you want to see that project, click below.
We have enjoyed giving our murals a name and I think this will be something that sticks moving forward.
This project has truly brought us so much joy.
The reactions from the staff and the owner, not to mention many travelers and locals that have stopped by, have been heartwarming. Doing this work is truly so rewarding. Though we don’t charge money for what we are doing, we get a meal and accommodation for free, and we get the utmost privilege to bring joy and happiness to these spaces, for years to come.
Our murals are not like paintings that are bought and hung in people homes. They are on display for hundreds, if not thousands, of people to see over their life spans. We know already, that this mural will put a smile on many travelers faces.
We know, without a doubt, that we have uplifted this space!
Thanks for joining me on a tour of our latest project. We have also painted tables, posts, signs and many bits and bobs around here. Plus we have a couple small (really small) tile projects still to go, so I will be sure to write an article that sums up all the projects together.
If you are curious and want to learn more about our mural painting, check out the article below, or get in touch by using one of our social media links at the bottom of this article. If you would like to support us in our mission to spread love through art, please consider visiting our Ko-Fi profile where you can tip us for our work.
I will leave you with one more image of Chris’ stunning Turaco!
And one more of the complete project.
Hi there, we are 2 Canadians, Jill and Chris from Artistic Voyages. We have been nomadic since 2017 living in numerous different countries, and experiencing the life and diversity of our planet on the ground and firsthand. We paint FREE murals in exchange for accommodation. Tip us on Ko-fi!
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