On the morningof July 19, local artist Paul Lewis was busy assessing the damage to his Beachlands sign at Royal Bay Beach after a man suffering from a mental health condition set it on fire earlier in the week.
"It is a bit of an eyesore right now," said Lewis. "I don't know what they will do with the mammoth but that is a different story."
Along with the Beachlands sign, Lewis designed an eagle, and another artist, Alex Witcombe of Drifted Creations, designed a mammoth torched during the incident on Monday, July 15.
"The eagle looks pretty trashed," Lewis said.
The signs damage is bad but fixable, according to Lewis, he just needs to source wood and other materials to mend it.
"That should take me a day probably to fix it."
Lewis's work can be seen at the Esquimalt Lagoon and Juan de Fuca library, near Old Island Highway,
"I started in 2018," Lewis said. "I was bored and became inspired by Alex Witcombe...It just kind of took off."
He said he has been an artist his whole life and it can take him years just to finish one painting.
"I don't know. I just lost interest, so it is like quick satisfaction. I can rattle something off in a day or two."
A small sculpture usually costs around $350, while something as large as the Beachlands sign will be $6,000.
Once Lewis finished assessing the sign at Royal Bay Beach, he wanted to look at a new location for another project he had planned at Juan de Fuca Library.
"I am going to do a big cougar up in a tree staring at a name bear," said Lewis.
Near the library, he already has 13 sculptures, including owls, crows, woodpeckers, and a few mystical animals, are in the trees. The parks department and Lewis will use a ladder to place them.
One of the sculptures has special meaning for Lewis. Down the trail at the library is a sculpture of an eagle's nest, with a baby eagle, its parent, and a salmon. Hidden within a secret compartment is a vial of ashes belonging to Lewis's son, who died in 2021.
"I have a little vial, and underneath her got one feather that has a red screw, so I know which one it is."
The nest was not visible during the visit as shrubbery around the sculpture had grown, and Lewis had not been to visit in some time, he said.
