¶ JIM Gamble is hesitant to name himself an artist, but anyone gazing at his murals would have no such hesitation.
“People ask me where I got this gift, but I don’t know, I just seem to be able to do it,” Mr Gamble said.
His latest work of art is emerging on the previously blank brick walls at Amaroo Deli & Cafe in Atkinson Street.
This time around, his subject is the timber industry, following the steam locomotive he produced at the Collie River Valley Tourist Park.
The 69-year-old has been working on this latest mural for five weeks, through weather that has ranged from extremely hot to cold and windy.
“On the hot days, the girls from the deli had to keep bringing me drinks of water, and the paint was drying just about straight away on the brush,” he said.
“There were a few tough days.”
One wall of the mural depicts the very early days of the timber industry, when giant trees were felled by cross-cut saws and muscle power.
The second wall will also deal with the history of the industry, moving forward in time, dealing with the days when Collie had thriving truck transport businesses.
Mr Gamble relies on historic photographs to depict articles like sleeper cutters, horse-drawn whims and steam locomotives.
He enjoys talking to those who worked in the industry, who stop by to see what he is doing.
They give him help with technical details of the machines and describe how they were used.
Mr Gamble does not intend to rest on his laurels once this mural is finished.
He has plans to undertake a mining industry mural in Cardiff.