History has been preserved for future generations thanks to the newly restored mural on the wall of the Bowen Hotel.
The mural depicts the two original Denison Hotels of the 1940s and was painted in 1996.
Since then, it had faded significantly but thanks to the Bowen Mural Society and local artist Martin Jegou, new life has been breathed into the painting and its colours are vibrant once again.
It has taken Martin the past four weeks to complete the mural and after 85 hours, he finally took a satisfied step back and knew he’d finished the job.
“I had to copy a lot of it from an old postcard so I could get the colours correct,” said Martin.
“It took a lot of patience as it was very faded and had lost most of its vibrant colour, so it was pretty dull.
“It has been very rewarding bringing it back to life and it has been good to keep the heritage alive.”
The previous mural was painted by brush, but Martin’s technique is spray paint.
“I’ve tried to make it as good as it was, but in my own style,” he explains.
“It’s a different style but I’ve managed to keep the same finish.”
This is not the first mural that Martin has worked on in Bowen, he has personally created murals on the walls of the VMR that depicts the Lighthouse and a history of vessels.
He has also painted a mixture of local birdlife and orchids on the Showground walls and a local view of farmland and produce on the lunch area wall at Queens Beach School.
“Martin has done a fantastic job,” said Heather Skinner, from the Bowen Mural Society, when asked about the Bowen Hotel mural.
“It looks absolutely fabulous.”
There are over 30 murals in Bowen and the town has often been referred to as ‘The Mural Town Of Australia”.
Heather says they have plans to create two new murals – one of the very early churches on the St Vinnie’s wall and a second of Herbert Street in the late 1800s which will be on the wall next to the information centre on Front Beach.
The Bowen Hotel mural restoration was funded by a Regional Arts Development Fund through the Whitsunday Regional Council.
Local artist Martin Jegou putting the finishing touches on the Bowen Hotel mural earlier this week. Photo supplied.
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