Have a fun day at Fundy in Canada. Photo from Wikipedia.
A mural which disappears under the tide and reappears. The artist Sean Yoro, known as 'Hula' from Hawaii, has painted murals on icebergs (which lasted a week before melting) and was invited by the marketing department to create a mural in Canada. He paddled out on a paddle board, which was anchored by what looks like ropes, and spent a week on the mural.
Problem 1
Where is the mural?
Answer 1
The one featured in newspapers in Aug 2017? In Canada. Bay of Fundy.
Problem 2 Where's that?
Answer 2
In the city harbour in St John, province of New Brunswick in the state of Nova Scotia, meaning New Scotland. Bay of Fundy is a tourist attraction in its own right, and was so before the appearance of this mural.
Say again!
Bay of Fundy, East Coast of Canada. Near Maine in the USA. Not terribly handy for most residents nor tourists unless you happen to be in that area of Canada or do a cross-country, cross the continent travel trip, walking, hiking or in a giant motorhome, or by sea.
My first thought on reading the newspaper articles was: I wonder how the artist knew it. He must be local, unless he researched tides. Then I watched the video. He is not a local person. He was invited to do the mural by the local tourist board. He specialises in painting on items in the water, combining water sports, from his upbringing in Hawaii, and his training in art.
What looks like a cliff side in a newspaper photo is actually the side of a harbour wall, a very deep wall. The woman's head and shoulders rise above the water and sink as the sea water rises and falls.
The video and the artist confirmed my first thought about the effect of the mural. As the tide rises it looks as though the woman he painted is drowning, But as the tide sinks, she is rising, like the Maya Angelou's affirmative poem, I Rise!
Picture of Mural courtesy of Discover Saint John.
Wiki:
The Bay of Fundy (French: Baie de Fundy) is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine.
Problem 3 Why Fundy?
That's an odd name. Why is it called Fundy and how will I remember it?
Wiki reveals:
Some sources believe the name "Fundy" is a corruption of the French word Fendu, meaning "split",[1] while others believe it comes from the Portuguese funda, meaning "deep".[2]
Temporary Murals
Amusing idea to paint a disappearing mural.
Temporary - I Prefer Permanent
I prefer permanent year round attractions myself. As a tourist I hate spending my hard earned cash to fly to a foreign country and finding that an attraction has closed for the season or closed on Monday, or my flight is delayed and the place is not there on weekends.
On the other hand, once there, if that was the main attraction, one could hang around all day. Or set up a tripod for time lapse photos whilst having lunch. Maybe spend on photography equipment before going. Now is the time to make my Xmas and birthday list.
Do you need to hire a boat or helicopter to see it? I think not. The artist talks about people's reaction to it. Maybe binoculars would be handy. And a wide angle lens, unless you photograph it from a distance and then increase the size. The video shows people standing on dry land watching.
I expect the mural will be replaced, and inspire more similar, here and around the world. Tourist boards will run competitions. From their point of view, like exhibitions, a changing picture brings new people, new artists, and return visits.
The girl depicted appears above the tide then disappears below it. Very clever. The artist had to paint fast when the tide was low.
Some things last for years underwater, bits of the Titanic. But paint underwater? Ships' hulls must go underwater, lapped by waves, changing tides and changing weight of what's aboard? I suspect ships need regular repainting, at some cost.
Greatest High Tide
Reading about the Bay of Fundy, I can see why it was chosen. Because of having one of the highest tides in the world, more of the picture is revealed and concealed.
The Bay of Fundy is known for having the highest tidal range in the world. Rivaled by Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, King Sound in Western Australia, Gulf of Khambhat in India, and the Severn Estuary in the UK, it has one of the highest vertical tidal ranges in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records (1975) declared that Burntcoat Head, Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world:
East Coast:If you are a tourist, you might start or end your trip with city culture and museums and restaurants: Toronto (English), Ottawa (bilingual), Montreal (French with Canadian accent), clifftop Quebec city.
Out in the wild, Newfoundland and Anne of Green Gables.
The nearest thing we have to Canada's Reversing Falls, in England is the Severn Bore. I once went to see it at a vantage point. I found a plaque but the car driver was not willing to wait several hours.
VIDEO of painting the mural in Canada on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENjHFd8NJkg
Even more dramatic is the video of him painting from his paddle board by the edge of the waterfall. (Picture looks like taken from a helicopter but close and quiet except for the noise of the waves so I imagine it must be taken from a drone.
http://byhula.com/portfolio/makau/
The website also sells prints, if you fancy buying one.
http://byhula.com/portfolio
https://shop.byhula.com/products/makau This print costs $95. I imagine postage is extra.
A postcard size is only $35. Hurry because it is a limited edition numbered and signed.
***
Websites for further reading:
http://bayoffundytourism.com
www.discoversaintjohn.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversing_Falls
http://www.novascotia.com/about-nova-scotia/regions
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/can…
http://www.severn-bore.co.uk
www.visitbritain.org
www.visitbritain.com
http://wikitravel.org/en/Canada
https://web.archive.org/web/20100113230143/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com
Although the Canadian encyclopaedia article used by Wikipedia is old and technical and has no modern photos, it is a handy reminder that when visiting a country, you can look for an up to date compact one volume encyclopaedia or book of facts for entertaining and informative reading.
Also see my other posts on permanent murals worldwide; and the temporary mural of the late London singer, Amy Winehouse. More on Canada in the next post.
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