by Alice MartinezDowntown will receive the world-famous artist's new work, San Diego's fifth
an Diego is in for a whale of a show. This September,
world-renowned environmental marine artist Wyland will be in town to paint
one of his famous "Whaling Wall" murals. The new composition will
grace the walls of the San Diego National Bank Building on Kettner Blvd.
San Diego's new mural will be Wyland's 60th - he has
painted 53 to date - and the fifth in our city. The other four were created
at The Plunge in Mission Beach, at the Del Mar Fairgounds, and two at Sea
World. (Unfortunately, two of the murals - at the Fairgrounds and Sea World
- have been lost due to new construction.) While most of his compositions
were created in the United States, he has also worked in Canada, Japan,
Australia and France.
The man known simply as Wyland (he dropped his given
name Robert) has a goal: saving the whales. He sees his life-size depictions
as a way to change attitudes on a big scale."I'm trying to paint not only the great whales
but the great spirit they possess," he says. "By painting them
life-sized in public places, I hope to raise people's consciousness and
get them involved in protecting the whales. If people see the beauty in
nature, they'll work hard to preserve it."It is going to make a huge difference. These murals
will be seen by tens of millions of people each year. You can choose not
to go into an art gallery or museum, but you can't ignore a giant mural.
If even one of the kids who sees it is inspired to grow up and be another
Jacques Cousteau, it will be worth it."
Wyland backs up his commitment with action: each of
his murals is a free gift. All costs not covered by sponsorships are paid
by Wyland himself, including support for his crew of 14, thousands of gallons
of paint, scaffolding, brushes, rollers, sprayers - all the bits and pieces
needed by this huge project.Fortunately, Wyland is well able to afford it. There
are Wyland galleries in 19 locations that sell Wyland and other environmental
artists' work. Wyland's oil paintings and sculptures fetch as much as $175,000,
making him one of the most successful artists in the world.
The composition of each mural is spontaneous, undecided
until the artist approaches the blank wall with paint sprayer in hand. "I never know what it's going to be until I start
painting," he explains. "I try to paint the environment and capture
the spirit of the place. From there I look into that ocean and I try to
envision whales swimming across the wall. It's unique, but it seems to work."Wyland's images come from firsthand experience. As a
diver and devout environmentalist, he spends much of his time under water,
studying his subjects close up. He also works with marine scientists to
help ensure accuracy and a sense of realism. "I don't paint general whales anymore. I paint
whales that I've seen, that I've studied, that I've swum with," he
says. "After you study them for a while, you see physical differences.
Some have overbites, some have underbites."Wyland's painting technique is also unusual: he uses
no sketches or outlines, no grid on the wall - none of the traditional methods
used on projects of this scope. "I think a part of me is always a few
blocks away, watching, while the other part of me is nose to nose with the
artwork," he explains.He got little rest last year when he embarked on an
ambitious East Coast tour, painting 17 murals in 17 weeks. From Portland,
Maine, in June to Key West, Florida, in September, his stops included Boston,
Providence, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Wyland's murals need huge "canvases," since
all of his whales are life size."By painting them life size, you really get your
audience to appreciate them," says the artist.Nevertheless, his 116,000 square foot mural at the Long
Beach Convention Center has earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World
Records as the creator of the world's largest mural. Completed in May of
1992, Whaling Wall XXXIII, "Planet Ocean," is ten stories high
and 1,280 feet in diameter, covering the entire surface of the Center.Wherever he works, Wyland is sure to draw a crowd. He
welcomes participation by members of the community, enlisting the aid of
scores of volunteers to become part of the crew.Children, especially, are encouraged to help, and he
always takes time to talk with them. "I think we have a real chance
here with the kids. It seems to me that kids know more and are more in tune
with the environment than I ever was."
The artist was born Robert Wyland, far away from the
ocean in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan in 1956. Born with a severe clubfoot,
Wyland underwent 11 major surgeries before the age of seven, and he was
continuously hobbled by a corrective cast that prevented his swimming. He
remembers frequent trips with his family to Michigan's Cass Lake, where
he would watch his brothers and cousins run into the water and play while
he had to stand on the shore and watch.Using odds and ends of old house paint, Wyland started
painting his first murals (of dinosaurs) at the age of three, on the headboards
of the family's beds and anywhere else he found that was appropriate. When
he entered school, Wyland's artistic ability became apparent to his teachers,
some of whom encouraged him to concentrate more heavily on his artwork.Wyland's mother, Darlene, also was an early influence
for the budding artist. Darlene, who was divorced when Wyland was four,
had four boys to raise while she worked in Detroit's auto industry. Nevertheless,
she helped nurture Wyland's gift, allowing him to turn his bedroom into
a makeshift studio and devote up to 14 hours a day to his painting.At age 14, Wyland's family drove to visit an aunt in
California. He finally realized his dream of seeing the Pacific Ocean and
the experience left him absolutely awestruck. He was also fortunate enough
to see his first whale, part of the annual migration of the California grey
whales on their way down to the warm lagoons of Mexico.
The early sighting of whales had an enormous impact
on Wyland's life and on his future. Upon his return to Michigan, he began
painting and studying whales, dolphins, fish and the sea. At the same time
he intensified his study of marine life, Wyland found time to excel in sports,
completely overcoming his early infirmity. And while his mother continued
to support his dedication to art, she decided her 16-year-old son needed
to learn about the working world by getting a job. A series of ill-fated,
minimum-wage jobs served as an important lesson: that he needed to work
even harder as an artist if he was to avoid the work-a-day world. Through the television programs of Jacques Cousteau,
Wyland became greatly concerned with the alarming plight of the whales and
decided he wanted to help. "I was a huge fan of his TV specials when
I was young and he really inspired me to want to do something for the whales."Wyland's first mural, for which he was paid $300, was
commissioned by a teacher who owned a local Dairy Queen restaurant in Michigan.
He painted an Alps scene, which the locals said made everyone hungry for
ice cream.In 1977 Wyland moved to Laguna Beach, California, an
artist's mecca for more than 100 years, where he painted his first "Whaling
Wall," now a famous local landmark. Laguna Beach is also where Wyland
has been able to build his art studio from a tiny $100-a-month shared flat
into a thriving enterprise with several hundred employees. In 1991 Wyland moved to the North Shore of Hawaii to
live, in a house which takes in a vista of the sea and, of course, whales
as they make their annual migration.There is one message that dominates this odyssey of
a man and his art: Wyland's unshakable vision that in order to save the
whales and other creatures of the sea, man must first open his eyes and
see that he must save the earth's oceans. 
Alice Martinez, a long-term San Diego resident lives in Pacific Beach
within sight of the Sea World tower. Alice is a computer specialist, student
of the environment, and San Diego Earth Day volunteer.
Become a part of history by volunteering to assist Wyland
in creating San Diego's newest Whaling Wall. Wyland will be working during
the third week of September. For more information please call the Wyland
Gallery at (619) 544-9995.Visit the Wyland Gallery in Seaport Village to see the
artist's paintings, sculptures and other works of art. For more information on what you can do to help save
the whales, contact the San Diego chapter of the American Cetacean Society
by phoning Bob Clark at (619) 482-1518 or writing to 1404H Ridgeback Road,
Chula Vista, CA 91910.
