Well-known Orbost artist, Dawn van den Berg, has been putting the finishing touches to her large and impressive mural in the Save The Snowy Rail Bridge shop front display and the results are inspiring.

Dawn is noted for her meticulous paintings and drawings, particularly of wildlife, so the challenge of doing a really large-scale impression of the historic railway bridge was “pretty different” from what she usually does.

In fact, Dawn said, it was the largest painting she had ever done. While she was supplied with photos as a prompt, she otherwise had to use her design skills to bring her piece to life.

Her first task was to use charcoal to map out a design.

Next came the big job of painting in acrylics, which dry very quickly in hot weather, to create shapes and shadows, capturing the lines and angles of the historic bridge with its piles and trestles.

Dawn has always loved drawing and sketching, talents that have been enhanced by her training in graphic design at the Swinburne Technical College.

These skills are not only handy for textile designs but also advertising, all sorts of illustrations, logos and maps.

Her ability as a wildlife artist, particularly birds, is legendary. When it came to finishing the large mural for Save The Snowy Rail Bridge, her final touch was to add a small bird to the painting.

As well as Dawn’s fine mural, the shop front contains an historic display about the Orbost-Bairnsdale railway and information about the Save The Snowy Rail Bridge project.

PICTURED: Dawn van den Berg’s mural of the Snowy River Bridge, which now adorns the wall of the Save The Snowy Rail Bridge shop front in Orbost, began with a charcoal design before progressing to painting with acrylic paints.