“I have always done art. With Somerset being such a small community, we didn’t have many options for art. Even in my high school, we didn’t even have art class until my very last year. I’ve always been into art. I was going through my old school work a few days ago and I found this piece of paper when I was eight in school that asked ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ and I said ‘an artist’. I’ve always been very drawn to it.”
She said they have been involved in many mural projects, including four in Manitoba. Some are indoor, particularly as the season for outside art is coming to an end. As well, she also does canvass painting, digital art, some animation – pretty much anything she can get her hands on.
Devloo came onboard the Boissevain project after looking online, and becoming interested in the opportunity to be involved in the mural project in town. She sent in her proposal and was chosen as the artist for this special artwork.
The dental clinic was once the telephone office, and the Boissevain-Morton Arts Council were looking to honour the changes in communications over the years. Devloo said for her part, at the time she had applied, she was coming home to Manitoba for a visit. She received an email from the council they wanted a telephone operator to appear in the mural with a switchboard. That very day, Devloo’s mother inherited some photos and they were going through them. A picture of her grandmother came up. Much to Devloo’s surprise, she was a telephone operator and she appeared in a picture with a switchboard. It is the artist’s grandmother, Elaine Vancauwenberghe, as she worked in the office at Swan Lake, that appears on the mural.
“It was pretty significant and I didn’t even know about it,” she said.
There is an MTS telephone booth, changed from the original British booth, and the old post office also in the mural. Devloo said it is somewhat abstract, and there might be some items you will not see right away, but it is all communication themed.
“I do elements that are realistic. If I was to paint a person, they would be realistic, but not necessarily the exact background they are in. My natural mode is more abstract.”
It is also in honour of Queen Elizabeth II, as the Arts Council received a Jubilee grant for the work. After the decision was made, the long-reigning and highly respected monarch passed away. Devloo said the queen passed away on the artist’s 25th birthday, September 8.
She started on the mural on Friday, October 7. Devloo started with a sort of “doodle grid”, which might look a bit different, but serves as a way to plot out where everything will go. She is working with both brush and spray paint. The artist was able to get one full day in, and with a couple of days off on the holidays to visit family, she has been working on the wall on and off as weather permits.
As much of the work is through spray, the wind can be a challenge.
“Right now, I can do a bit of spray painting between the gusts of wind,” she explained on Tuesday, “and it depends on what exactly I’m doing.”
She said it could be more of a challenge if she is doing a fade farther from the wall, as the wind will take the paint with it.
This is the second mural project done by the Arts Council this year, with the water towers, painted by Kent Ness of Saskatoon, completed in September.
If she can get a week of work in, Devloo feels she can finish the artwork. There are a few projects ready to go back west when she is completed. She is happy to be involved in Boissevain’s outdoor gallery.
“I feel really excited to be involved in this, especially spending so many years living in different places other than Manitoba. Most of my art was done in Alberta. I’ve done some murals in Manitoba, but nothing compared to what I’ve done in Calgary and Edmonton. It’s really exciting to be able to take all of the knowledge I’ve learned and the skills I’ve developed and be able to share that with the people here.”
“I hope I can bring something colourful and lively that the younger generation, or anyone, can see,” she continued. “I noticed it’s a tourist destination here, so maybe people from other towns will come and see something you usually wouldn’t see in Manitoba.”

by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff