Thirtyseven fiberglass draft mules and six Clydesdales, all life-size, were bunched-up in the center of exhibit hall number three at the Fort Walla Walla Museum, while the "landscape" took shape around them. The horizontal bars visible across the bottom of the photo are part of the header of an actual 1912 Harvester to which the mules are harnessed when the exhibit is in place.
Completed mural spans four walls and is 280 feet long by 13 feet high.
"In 1998, Fort Walla Walla Museum commissioned me to create a panoramic mural for their historic wheat harvest exhibit. The mural depicts an August landscape. Getting into an "August" mindset proved interesting as I began painting in the cold of April. The mural was completed by mid-June."
LEFT:
Cottonwoods, willows and other creek bottom-loving trees and brush are being blocked in to define the lay of the land.
Area shown here is approximately 10 feet high by 12 feet long.
INDOOR MURAL CREATES "ENVIRONMENT"
SURROUNDING WHEAT HARVEST EXHIBIT AT FORT WALLA WALLA MUSEUM in Walla Walla, Washington, USA.
RIGHT:
Making ninety degree corners and sheetrock seams disappear. Poppenga created the illusion that right-angle corners simply did not exist.
This photo was taken as landforms and sky are beginning to evolve. The horizon hills and mountains were blocked in boldly and then keyed up in value to push them into the distance, eventually creating a sense of a clear, dry and hot august day at harvest time.
LEFT:
A completed tree---
One of numerous trees portrayed throughout the landscape.
The entire mural was painted with rags. The oil-based paint was applied in thin washes and layered several times to create an atmospheric depth and luminosity even under low-light museum conditions.
RIGHT:
A tree grouping being scrubbed in. Thin layering of paint visible, especially in the foreground grasses.
All photos were taken under museum low light conditions, and therefore do not indicate the full luminosity and coloration of the work when viewed in person.
