It’s not easy painting a silo.
Just ask Tim Bowtell, who is currently painting the silo at Katamatite.
The mural painter has been a new addition to the Katamatite community as he turns an otherwise plain-looking silo into an eye-catching work of art.
The Moira Shire silo isn’t Mr Bowtell’s first rodeo, so to speak, with the well-known mural artist having been in the industry since 2005.
“(My first mural) was on the side of Stolz Furnishings in Benalla,” Mr Bowtell said.
Art and painting have always been a passion for Mr Bowtell and since then he has travelled across the state painting on various buildings and structures.
“I was just always painting on canvases and I just wanted to go larger. I think my mum put the idea in my mind about mural painting years and years ago so it just sort of developed out of my art practice,” he said.
Asked what it takes to become a good mural artist, Mr Bowtell said it was a hard question but that having a passion for it was the most important element, as the job isn’t easy.
That passion for mural painting changed Mr Bowtell personally. Because prior to painting big murals he was afraid of heights.
“I had to get over my fear of heights. And that was purely because I just wanted to do it. I want to paint these large-scale murals, so I just had to get over it,” he said.
Even without a fear of heights, mural painting isn’t easy.
“I grid up the photo I’m painting from. It’s all designed on computer. A committee approves it. Then I put a grid over it like squares,” he said.
“I'll rule up the silos up into squares, obviously much larger squares that are about a metre by metre, and then concentrate basically on what's on each in each square.”
As for the hardest things to paint, Mr Bowtell said that for him it was the non-natural objects such as trains, planes and automobiles.
Along with the obvious painting skills, Mr Bowtell said being a good mural painter required strong interpersonal skills and the ability to deal with physical discomfort.
“You’ve got to be good with people ...You know, to communicate and get their ideas into a subject,” he said.
As for what he plans to do after he has finished with the Katamatite silo, Mr Bowtell has a job lined up in the west of Victoria, painting a water tower.