When Jane Dunn visits the Ranfurly Manor Hospital and Rest Home in Feilding, they greet her as "Muriel Jane", and it's all to do with a large, bright, beautiful mural that adorns a wall. The huge, 53 square metre painting covers entirely the inside of the fence around a courtyard in Ranfurly's dementia unit.
A mobile hairdresser by trade, Jane has found she now has two outlets for her creativity.
"I sort of stumbled on this. I used to do a lot of art work when I was young," says Jane. "I'm halfway through a UCOL Visual Arts degree, which I have to pick up again. Life got busy so I had to drop it for a year or two or three."
Jane was the chair of the Bulls Steering Committee that dealt with the new shopping centre and contributed to the visual upgrade of the Rangitikei town. Fresh paint, bright new seats, planter boxes and, among other things, three murals adorning two fences and the outside wall of Mothered Goose Cafe. All eye-catching and beautifully executed.
"There were a couple of sad areas that needed prettying up, and we couldn't afford an artist, so I said, I used to do it; I could give it a go."
Obviously permission was required from the property owners and they had a say in what was painted.
"I also asked the owners of the shops near where the murals would be ... and they were very happy with it."
The murals also served to link the shopping areas with pictures that led the eye from one area to the next.
"They're all done in Resene outdoor paint left over from the seats," says Jane. It's worth noting that the murals, seats and planter boxes have all so far escaped vandalism.
It was while Jane was in the act of painting kingfishers in a flax bush on what was a dowdy fence, that she was spotted by Tracey Van Beek, Team Leader of the Dementia Centre at Ranfurly.
A conversation followed, Tracey went to the facility manager, Anna Blackwell, who took it to Tom Brankin, the owner, and Jane was offered a commission to paint the fence.
"It was raw, rough-sawn timber, so the first couple of days was spent putting on the base coat," says Jane.
"It's the biggest project I've done so far."
Ranfurly wanted a Kiwiana type of painting in colours bright enough to appeal to people living with dementia. Jane responded with two concepts and the rest home went with her vision of a vast landscape of native trees, flowers and birds.
Tracey loves it
"It's fantastic, isn't it?"she says.
"The residents love it and they also enjoyed the making of it, the whole process. It was therapeutic for them to see it come alive; seeing Jane come in every time and adding a bit more to it. They'd always talk about it and visitors and family members would comment on how good it is."
Tracey says it's a transformation from a fence that makes it look like residents are caged in to a work of art that gives them an outlook of colourful nature.
"You'll never see anything else like this; it's unique and just what we need here for residents to remain positive."
Tracey echoes my own sentiments when she says it would be good to have art like this everywhere.
Jane's mum, local fantasy writer Judeth Scott says the mural has the ability to stay with the beholder. "You can carry it with you," she says. "Sometimes when I'm sitting here it comes back and I can look at it again in my head."
The larger-than-life birds are positioned so residents are greeted by them as they enter the courtyard, no matter which door they choose, as some are very close to the fence.
What is unusual for a work of this size is that the viewer doesn't have to stand at a distance to appreciate it. Even up close the painting is stunning.
"That was hard," says Jane. "I had to find that balance where you can view it from here [a distance of less than a metre] and from a distance."
Over the course of four months, working around the weather, the painting took a solid three weeks' to complete.
"It was a lot of fun doing it and I loved working with the bright colours," says Jane.
Jane's Facebook page is JED Designs - Jane Dunn and her website address is www.jedjanedunndesigns.com, if readers want to see her work. To speak to her about her painting, her mobile number is 0277460791.
The children of Class 8 at Clifton School in Bulls sent the following letter to the Bulls Community Committee. The picture is of the class beside one of Jane's murals. Behind them are butterflies and a boy climbing the inside of the gate.
"Dear Mr Dalrymple
We are writing to you about our thoughts about the astounding artwork and colourful seats, and planter boxes around our town. We think this artwork makes our town more interesting and unique. The art, planters and seats draw people in which is good for the town's economy.
If we keep continuing these notable changes, it could give people a sense of safety and friendliness. It gives our town a modern feel and could draw in families with younger children making it more child-friendly.
Our favourite piece of art is the boy on the fence because it shows people what children like us actually do giving us a kind atmosphere and a sense of belonging. These pieces, that are phenomenal, give our town enjoyable features and we think it's a fantastic accomplishment.
We hope it continues and that the Bulls Community respects and enjoys it all as much as we do.
Kind regards
Sophie Connelly and Ethan Gilmour"