A gray-barked and green-leafed tree towers above the yellow savannah, with the distant rolling foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountain range dwarfed by its sprawling limbs. The faint ring of a cash register drifts in from the next room, a reminder that this beautiful valley oak tree is in fact indoors, and is a painting.
Artist John Iwerks is steadily putting the finishing touches on the new mural, recently commissioned by the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature in Solvang, as visitors to the museum come and go. The mural is the result of a concerted effort by the museum to include more community input in its shows, which called for more of a focus on local wildlife and habitat, explained the museum’s Executive Director Stacey Otte-Demangate.
“John’s mural is really the launch of a whole new direction for the Wildling,” she said. “We decided on an oak tree because it is really so iconic for our area, the Central Coast, and California in general. You can’t miss them, they’re amazing to look at and so large. The valley oak is the largest oak tree in our area.”
The mural is featured on a landing just next to the staircase that leads up to the museum’s second floor. The second floor, Otte-Demangate explained, will now be dedicated to the ecology of the Central Coast. There is plenty of room up there for exhibits, but the new mural will serve as a welcome piece to the space as well as an educational tool.
The valley oak is not the only piece of wildlife in the colorful work. Several species of fauna can be found throughout the piece, from fluttering birds to scampering mammals.
“Well, we have a fox in the far lower right corner, a yellow-billed magpie flying in the corner, a gray tree squirrel, and a barn owl,” Iwerks explained. “And we just had a talk, I need to make him more sleepy, he shouldn’t be so wide awake.”
There are other birds flying around the tree, nesting in it, and some other critters on and around it. The museum actually enlisted the help of some local experts to help with the selection and depiction of the tree and animals, explained Otte-Demangate.
They asked Joan Lentz—author of A Naturalist’s Guide to the Santa Barbara Region—for her opinion on the range of animals present in the mural. Local biologist, retired doctor, and bird expert Fred Emerson helped with the appearance and behavior of the birds. Kate McCurdy, who works at the UCSB Sedgwick Reserve, also gave her scientific insight.
The museum’s assistant director, Katie Pearson, explained that the mural would include key and interactive materials. This will allow visitors of all ages to find and identify the creatures depicted.
“It’s going to be a huge staple here for the local schools that they can come see every year,” Pearson said. “With all the critters in there we will have a fun hide and seek, and some educational activities for the casual observer to learn more. This is part of this larger overhaul that we are doing in this area, so we will be adding text panels, bird sounds, and really teach them about the animals themselves, the habitat, and the history of the oak and the dangers that it’s facing.”
There will also be history on the oak tree in art, explained Otte-Demangate. Iwerks actually spent several weeks seeking and sketching oak trees from around the Solvang and Santa Ynez area, studying the unique properties of specifically the valley oak, he said.
There is a colloquial way to remember the difference between the bark of a valley oak and a coastal live oak, he explained, where the valley oak’s bark resembles an alligator’s skin. The coastal live oak’s bark resembles an elephant. He opened his sketchbook, flipped to a page, and pointed to a drawing of a valley oak that appears to be made up of interlocking alligators.
With a twinkle in his eye he approached the new mural, pointing to one of the highest branches in the eves. In a quite subtle way, there is the form of an alligator perched there, ready for the careful observer to spy.
“You have to look kind of close,” he said. “See, alligator bark!”
Arts Editor Joe Payne was reminded of Highlights for kids. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 1, 2016.
