WAKAW, Sask. – If the Canadian government will pay $1 million for a painting with only three lines, Ben Boychuk wonders what they’ll pay for his painted rock.
“Maybe they’ll give me $100,000 for the rock and put it on Parliament, or maybe the Legislature will buy it,” said the Wakaw farmer.
Boychuk thinks the massive rock on his lawn being painted by Canadian artist Glen Scrimshaw is just as valuable as Voice of Fire, the painting that caused an uproar several years ago when the National Gallery in Ottawa purchased it from an American.
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“It would look good on the Parliament, don’t you think?” said Boychuk while he watched Scrimshaw and Dan Dunn paint the prairie sunset scene.
The story behind the painting goes back several years, when Scrimshaw was searching for old wood to line the inside of his art and antique gallery in Duck Lake, about one hour north of Saskatoon.
In exchange for old barn wood, he told Boychuk he’d paint a massive rock Boychuk had just moved to the driveway.
“At that time he wasn’t famous yet,” said Boychuk.
During the next three years, as Scrimshaw’s reputation as a wildlife artist grew, Boychuk didn’t think he’d ever get his rock painted.
“I made an agreement,” said Scrimshaw as he set to work, with a small air brush, on the rock two metres high, four metres long and one metre thick.
“It’s the thickest canvas I’ve ever painted,” he said. “It’s the thickest and maybe the roughest.”
Scrimshaw and Dunn are using the nicks and crannies of the rock to create shadow and texture in the painting. “We incorporate that into the picture,” he said.
The primer coat and background colors were applied with a large air brush to cover the surface quickly and give it a smooth look.
Then the detailed work of painting the trees and pond in Boychuk’s yard began.
So far, Boychuk hasn’t received any offers for the painted rock.
“I think you’d have a hard time parting with it,” said his wife Anne. “The kids wouldn’t let you.”
