Are you one of the one billion people per year that see Wyland's Whaling Wall murals throughout the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe? These paintings have made people all over the world aware of the struggle of whales, dolphins and all ocean life.
Wyland was born in 1956 in Detroit, Michigan, which isn't that close to the ocean he now recreates for a living. Growing up, Wyland had to wait several years before he could dip into the water. Born with a severe clubfoot (the foot is bent out of shape - twisted or curled,) Wyland had 11 major surgeries by the time he was seven years old. Before Wyland and his family settled in Madison Heights, Michigan, he had moved around lots - 13 times in one year. Wyland made it a goal to use his artwork to avoid the poverty he'd seen so close to home. As a teenager he dropped in on the top airbrush muralist in the country, Dennis Poosch, who took him on as an apprentice. Later, he got a grant to the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit.
So far Wyland has completed 84 Whaling Walls since painting his first life-size mural in 1981 in Laguna Beach, California. He plans to complete 100 walls by the year 2011, each dedicated to the great whales and other life in our oceans. Wyland currently lives on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.
For more information about him and pictures of murals check out www.wyland.com.
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