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Five Days in July

JULY 5, 2017
Blue Rodeo is an iconic Canadian band that has established itself as part of the musical landscape. I was contacted by Polaris - the Slaight Family Heritage Prize and commissioned to create a poster for the album 'Five Days in July'. Since it's the fifth of July, I thought it would be a good time to talk a bit about the project and show the artwork.
The album was recorded at Greg Keelor's farm in rural Southeastern Ontario, not far from where I live way back in 2008. The countryside is rolling, with farms and trees and rivers. There is a strength and integrity in the music, as most of it was recorded in one take from the floor. I wanted to capture that feeling, and the title of the album in the image. I used to walk to a spot in the fields behind our old house and there was a beautiful tree standing alone. I was always drawn to that spot and it was the inspiration for this image.
Silkscreen poster - 18 x 24" (4 colour printed by Kid Icarus). I chose sunny summer colours to capture the feeling of a hot hazy July day.

The Heritage Prize selected eight classic Canadian albums and awarded prizes for this year's event. Each of the posters is limited to an edition of 49. You can order a print online here. I worked with designer Vanda Marasan, and was super excited to be included in this event. Here's a shot of Jim Cuddy accepting the award, the band loved the image.
You can read a more in-depth article on all of the posters and comments by the artists in this article on Passport 2017: Walls of Sound - Eight new posters by eight Canadian artists, made for the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, celebrate the best of Canadian music’s past
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