Three years ago, I was presented with an Artist’s dream commission, a contract to produce 15 murals for the North Tower, 3rd floor Surgical Recovery Unit, Peace Health at St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham, Washington. After working on several different prototypes, we agreed on the multi-layered, contour cut artworks using layers of 1/8″ and 1/4″ Sintra, which is a PVC sheet material. The material is lightweight, flexible and accepts acrylic paint very well. Once the concept and materials were approved,I was pretty much given Carte Blanche with the individual mural subjects.
I was still working my day job when this commission came along and there was some pressure to complete these 15 large multi layered contour cut paintings, so I worked at Signs Plus Monday thru Thursday, then in the shop/studio Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for 6 months. I wrapped the completed artworks and delivered them to the hospital, expecting to install them in short order. We had to wait for a handrail to be installed which took forever, then Covid came along and everything, everywhere came to a screeching halt.
The completed wrapped murals were stored unseen for 2-1/2 years as Covid raged throughout our community and ravaged St. Joseph Hospital and its staff. This spring when things settled down a bit, the staff were pleasantly surprised when they began unwrapping the mystery art that been stored in an unused room. After several more delays, the murals were installed this past weekend, I thoroughly ejoyed seeing them again after such a long hiatus and can now consider this ambitious project complete.
The administrative staff have asked me to propose a large mural for the curved wall at the entrance to the ward. The curved wall will be a bit of a challenge but I think I can continue with the multi-layered 1/8″ Sintra material as it is flexible enough to accomodate the curve. All in all, this commission was a wonderful opportunity for me to combine my artistic ability along with my knowledge of materials and processes learned from my years as a commercial sign designer and fabricator.
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Always impressed with your creativity Ron. These murals are beyond awesome. Staff and patients will have their day brightened every time they see them.
Oh my!
They are so beautiful, and will surely lift up all who encounter them !
Well done Ron !⭐⭐⭐
Wonderful. Outside beauty indoors.
This is awesome Ron! Your incredible paintings will add a powerful natural healing element to the surgical recovery area. Good for all the patients and staff. My hat is off to you my friend. Great work!
I so admire you and your abilities Ron Pattern! Congratulations on this latest achievement!
Your work simply blows me away. Period.
As a PeaceHealth employee, I’m so grateful for the contribution to our organization. What a wonderful legacy project. These pieces are provocative and will hopefully bring the healing power of our natural world to those in need of it. I am sharing link internally but I’m sure they will show up on our internal “Crossroads” system wide communication and event board!
Congrats Ron! They look fantastic!
So wonderful to see your love of nature expressed in this beautiful artwork for patients and visitors to enjoy!! Well done, Ron!!
Wow, brother Ron! These pieces of art will bring joy, healing and wonderment to so many people.