Artist behind 'The Starry Night' mural in London, Ont. encourages others to rediscover their passion

On a small street just east of Adelaide Street, there is evidence that an artist lives in the neighbourhood.

Perhaps the biggest sign is a mural that recreates Vincent van Gogh’s 'The Starry Night' painting.

“I looked at the garage, and I thought I am going to have to replace the doors, but then I thought, ‘No, I’ll try a mural first,’” said London artist Brenda Fuhrman.

Fuhrman moved into her home on Terrace Street two decades ago. She also owns a two car garage around the corner from her home on Josephine Street, where she painted the famous piece of art, 15 years ago.

“I asked the neighbor directly across from the garage who her favourite artist was, and then I brought over all these books on van Gogh, and she picked out which painting she would like to see on the garage door,” explained Fuhrman.

She has taken it upon herself to beautify her neighbourhood with various pieces of her artwork, mostly duplicating artwork she has always admired.

“We have a long fence facing our front door, and when I came out once, somebody had done a big tag on the fence, so I put up a bunch of copies again [of] storybook characters,” said Fuhrman.

Outside of her home on Terrace Street, you will also find a small mailbox containing small canvas artwork that she and her friends have created. She encourages people walking by to let her know and she gives the art away for free.

Fuhrman, who spent 20 years as a nurse before returning to school to become a lawyer, also has a fine arts degree from Western University.

“It’s not impossible for people to do more than one thing in life, and even if it is part-time. I just think it’s nice if you have something you are interested in when you were a child, and rediscover that, [and] carve out a piece of time to follow it,” added Fuhrman.