This outdoor art is more than it appears on the surface

Meet Me On Bernard is hosting seven uniquely beautiful pieces of art, including ‘Hidden Wonders.’

It depicts a woman standing in front of large, lush foliage with the rising sun on the horizon.

But unless onlookers view it on their smartphone in augmented reality (AR), they will never see the waterfall hiding behind the brush as the painting comes to life.

This is thanks to a team of illustrators, app developers, and animators.

“I love what I do because, well, I’m an animator,” Jamal Pollack told Kelowna10. “I grew up on cartoons and everything. I just love bringing things to life.”

He was given the illustration by Ashleigh Green in layers so he could animate movement like the woman moving the leaves aside, the ladybug taking flight, and the wind blowing by.

A QR code on display next to each painting allows people to download the Augle app to experience it in AR and hear the music and sound effects accompanying each piece.

As Pollack explained, Hidden Wonders was inspired by the outdoor lifestyle typical of Kelowna this season.

“We knew it was coming out in the summertime,” he said. “So, we created a piece where you have someone adventuring this outdoor space and they open it up and you find the hidden wonders of outside life, the wildlife.”

Shauna Oddleifson is an artist who provided the illustrations for another one of the paintings, ‘Carry Me. Lay Me Down.’

It shows a girl wearing flowers on her head, standing in a garden. It ebbs and flows between the plants withering to grey, then blooming again with a bright blue sky accompanied by birds and honeybees. The girl’s mood swings from happy to sad as the flowers die.

Oddleifson’s work on display at Bernard Ave. is a continuation of her style of painting flowers since the days she spent in the U.K. at an artist in residency program. There she found inspiration in the nearby gardens.

Her most recent piece downtown also serves as a commentary on water use in the Okanagan.

She said working with the developers and animators is a chance to add an extra layer of engagement with public art displays.

“Even the piece of seeing them without the augmented reality piece, they look amazing, these large-scale pieces of artwork,” Oddleifson said. “But it just has an extra layer and then you get to tell more of a story with the artwork and what’s involved.”