A Lacombe artist has lent her tremendous talents to help support the Blackfalds-based Delta Waterfowl Central Alberta Waterfowlers chapter.
Terry Walker was commissioned to create a work of art for the organization for their spring live auction and dinner coming up in May. She has finished the intricate work - a three-quarter sized version of a mallard duck in its natural habitat, which is known as a diorama.
The piece has been meticulously created with paper clay, and the 'water' in the habitat portion is made out of resin.
Last summer, Walker transformed a trash receptacle at the Lacombe Memorial Centre into a gnome house - complete with a bedroom, a kitchen, 'Reuben' reading in his den, 'Olaf' in the kitchen, and more.
There are other samples of her work at the LMC as well, including 'Beaverly', the Canadian beaver crafted from an exercise ball and a smaller fairy house which is in the library.
After she had wrapped up the project at the LMC, a friend of hers - Barb Woitas - asked if she might create a duck for the auction to be hosted by the Delta Waterfowl chapter this spring. Walker agreed to take on the challenge, and also said she would donate half of the cost to create.
"It went from there, and my imagination always gets carried away," she added with a laugh. Barb and her husband Vern are sponsoring the other half of the project's cost. Barb couldn't be happier with the finished result. "She is phenomenal."
Indeed. The attention to detail is striking, from the smooth 'water', to the tiny frogs and insects she has carefully created as well to 'complete' the overall picture.
"I don't really map or plan (it out) - I envision it...and it kind of creates itself as I go," she explained of the process. Barb had also asked if Walker could craft it in such a way that it looks like the duck is flying out of its watery habitat. And it does.
"The idea of creating the surrounding of it became a whole image in itself - and that thrilled me," she said.
"It was such an accomplishment because it is an entire picture," she explained, adding every creative experience offers a unique opportunity to grow as an artist. This experience was no different. The use of resin also provides a unique means of enhancing her works even further, and can also contribute to that sense of movement and reaism.
"I like to put action into my pieces, or movement," she said.
Walker, who is originally from Lacombe, recalled being an 'artsy' youngster, with an early fascination with plasticine. And that led to other forms of artistic expression over the years, she added. She has taught herself everything from stained glass to acrylic painting.
For more about Walker's art, find her on Facebook at 'Terry Walker Studios'.