Artist Greg Gislasen  calls “Let the Games Begin”  as his mural is  revealed at  the Prince George Airport -photos 250News

Prince George, B.C.- It is a mural that depicts everything about B.C. in general, and Prince George in particular.

Commissioned as part of the  cultural and arts portion of the 2015 Canada Winter Games,  artist Greg Gislason  took 5 months to create the mural that will be viewed by  all who arrive at the Prince George International Airport.

The mural depicts the Nechako Cutbanks, wildlife, locomotives, gold panners and  paddlewheelers.  There  is homage to the forest industry with a  lumberjack swinging an axe on a tree, and a  saw blade cutting through a log.

The Spirit bear, and orcas may not be  home to  Prince George,  but are every bit as much  a part of  B.C. as the  Dogwood flower and  Pacific coast line.  There is reference to  fly fishing,  flight and  mountain goats,  skiing, snowboarding, skating, snowmobiling, hockey  and Nanguz.  Of course,   what would a mural about Prince George be without the man himself?  Mr. P.G. is front and centre.

Gislason said getting the news that he had been chosen to do the mural  was  something he will never forget “I felt like a King,  I didn’t know what king of competition was out there.”

He said that as soon as he heard about the contest,  he  knew what he was going to do, he had a vision.   He did a mock up on the bare drywall in a friend’s home.

Gislason’s mural was revealed in the midst of a hail storm, “It’s snowing on my parade” said Gislason, “That’s O.K., this is Prince George”  and he  added “I love this town!”

Gislason said the mural wouldn’t have been completed on time had it not been for a team that helped him complete the project.

“I did this whole thing from my heart” says Gislason.

And while not saying so, there is an image in this mural  of a  man in a tube on the river. That  man bears a striking  resemblance to the artist himself.

The Lheidli T’enneh are not featured in this mural, as they are  producing their own.