Artist: Portia “Po” Chapman

Title: “Bloomin’ Good Time”

Artist Statement:

When first creating the initial imagery for this cohesive 10-piece series, I was greatly inspired by the brainstorming from the Community Focus Group Report in addition to my own lived experience in the Kingston downtown core, specifically in the location of the Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage. I knew that the final imagery needed to bring a high energy vibe that brightens the space by facilitating a colourful vitality. At the same time, the series needed to set a happy, positive tone of what people could expect to experience from the Garage down to the waterfront. After much contemplation, I began seeing a vision of what the space was missing; it was missing COLOUR! From this vision, I began designing this vibrant, brightly coloured, and edgy series of flowers and maple leaves embodying the expression of the energetic and inviting Kingston downtown core.

Two of my favourite things about the downtown core are the streetlights and flowers, both in planters along the sidewalk and hanging from the lights. To me, the downtown core has always been dreamy; a vibrant community of colourful people, activities, and businesses. I have numerous family and friend photos of us standing by flowers and under the elegant streetlights. I am certain that almost everyone who visits the downtown has their own memorable photos too. The downtown core is a wondrous place. With these streetlights and flowers as inspirations, I proceeded to create a floral series that had marketing versatility for the City of Kingston. With 10 separate images in the series, each image could be used for additional signage, shopping bag images, T-shirts, vinal wraps, etc.

In order to achieve a floral series that was edgy, rather than pretty, I turned to the Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage site for inspiration. The long image series was inspired by the long busses and the wide entry to the lower garage. It mirrors the elongated movement of the space and the flow of diverse passersby. The flower petal and stem shapes were inspired by the romantic dew drop shaped streetlights and leggy poles fading into the sidewalk below. The leaf shapes in the series were inspired by the metal bracket suspending the parking sign. All these inspirational shapes are crisp yet organically relaxed, complementing the rigid, linear wall lines of the surrounding buildings and the garage itself. From a distance, the Garage looks black and deep inside, so what I did was merge the shapes with a deep black background. What the combination achieved was a graffiti-esque, traditional-tattoo-like flavour. For this piece, I wanted it to be highly reflective of a Canadian city that welcomes visitors and newcomers. As such, I incorporated maple leaves with sharp edges to link the sharp edges of the surrounding architecture.

The colouration of the mural pushes the vibrant edginess a bit further by drawing inspirations from the Pop Art Era forward. This influence on the completed piece is stunningly palpable. Site specific hues were taken from the blue and orange of the city busses, the berry pink Kingston banner, and local business branding signage. With my paint chips in hand, I held them up to the garage and when the bus came by, I put my swatches up to it to match. By doing so, the series colours seamlessly correspond with Kingston’s current branding. I took the colour balance a step further by celebrating the open sky above the garage. When viewing the garage from across the street, viewers will be inclined to look up toward the artwork and open sky rather than continuing to look into the dark garage entrance at street level. By doing this, a sense of hopefulness is imparted upon the viewer. To incorporate the sky as an integral element of the art piece, I directed the motion of flowers to reach upward, as if reaching to the sky above. The interactive component of the artwork’s colouration happens when the sky changes colour. When the sky is blue-purple, cooler toned colours will be more noticeable, and when the sky is red-orange the warmer toned colours will pop. Similarly, streetlights and the lights from motor vehicles at nighttime will illuminate different colours in the series than during the day, thus achieving an everchanging art installation throughout the day, night, and seasons.

The image series result is one that can be cherished by people of various walks of life, backgrounds, and ages. It can be vividly seen from a distance under varying light conditions, and its simplistic, recognizable imagery of intense blocks of colour brighten the space. It is a series that always looks different and invites reflection as one takes a moment to pause. It works as a transitioning conduit from pavement to sky because it sits perfectly between both and has been created through a hyper-local lens. It is a landmark image series that signifies the downtown core and main transit hub. “Where do you catch the bus?” “Over by the flowers!” I believe that this series will inspire more people to spend more time in the downtown core while elevating the spirits of all people who see it. Let’s face it, good things happen when people feel good and, to me, that is what Kingston’s downtown core is all about: a place to feel good and have a “Bloomin’ Good Time!”

Artist Bio:

Portia “Po” Chapman (BFAH, B.Ed., ACE) is a Kingston resident who creates from her private home studio. She is an award-winning professional artist and published illustrator recognized for her organic, bright, colourblocking style inspired by grapevine silhouettes cast by the noonday sun. While completing her BFAH and B.Ed. at Queen’s University, she lived on Bagot St. near the Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage from which she regularly took public transit to class and work. It was from here in downtown Kingston that Po’s art career blossomed and gained international recognition. Along with exhibiting and creating commissioned works locally, as an Artist in Community Education Specialist, Po has led youth art workshops at Agnes over the last few years and currently teaches Media Art/English at Loyola, Kingston. Best known for her murals, illustrations, and hand painted hand drums, two of Po’s latest 2025 commissions have been a 14’X6’ mural for Strong Enterprises and a Land Acknowledgement image series for the Township of King. Her work was also suitably featured in the inaugural Kingston Artists’ Showcase at City Hall. Po views herself as being a Visual Story Telling Installation Artist whose works invite positive viewer interaction. When asked why she creates attention grabbing, high impact, simplistically “beautiful” artworks that inspire reflection and the sharing of cherished memories, Po responds: “Life just feels better when we smile.”

*This content was written and provided by the artist and no edits have been made.