Denmark gifted lioness mural by artist Ben Francis to mark the beginning of new year

What was once a plain brick wall now features a striking piece of artwork of a lioness and her cubs after Ben Francis donated the mural to the Denmark community.

Francis was planning to ring in the new year with friends in Denmark when he remembered his 2021 new year’s resolution.

The accomplished professional artist and musician had promised himself that he would try to paint his biggest mural to date.

Commissioned artwork by Francis can be found on walls around Europe and in both Perth and regional WA.

“It was almost the end of the year and it was my new year’s resolution to paint something this big,” he said.

“I wanted to paint something different and challenging.

“I always find people who paint animals and especially expressive and exotic animals quite impressive.

“So I thought that would be hard, that will be challenge.”

Francis said he found the right wall and decided to gift the mural to the community.

“I saw this big beauty of a wall and thought it would be beautiful here as I already had the image and thought the colours would work quite nicely with each other and the wall,” he said.

“I thought to match my goal of wanting to paint something really big I should explore this idea I’ve seen in lots of different literature and places where gifting things is one of their principles.

“I’ve always loved this idea and I thought this was a great opportunity.”

Francis spent three days on a ladder sketching out the mural and painting over the textured brick canvas under the beating summer sun.

“I’ve always worked with different forms of art as a means of feeling good and exploring things,” Francis said.

“I was always into music and learning instruments and playing music with people.

“They’re mainly therapeutic but they also pay the bills.”

The finished mural was named “Your Highest” and can be found on the brick wall at the end of the apartment building on Strickland Street, across the road from the Denmark IGA.