Karen Ahmed It all started with an Egg

And then there was the Moose

Toronto's moose on the loose has transformed the city into grazing land. Hundreds of life-sized fiberglass moose, designed by Toronto artists, are being displayed throughout the metropolis until Thanksgiving. Karen's piece Moose-aic in the city is the only Desi Moose in the city and is sponsored by Toronto.com. You can check out this one-of-a-kind moose at 995 Broadview Ave.

I almost passed up the opportunity to submit a moose design as the submission date was only two weeks away, however, the concept was so intriguing that I spent my subway travel time thinking up ideas. My style combines the unique use of acrylics and eggshells, so I knew that I had t o carry that over to the moose. As a new immigrant to Toronto, what impressed me most was the obvious multiculturalism in our city. That's when I decided to depict multicultural Torontonians with their arms over the heads in the shape of a heart - symbolic of love.

Mambo, as I christened him on site, would not fit into my house, and so had to be deposited on my deck. I had only two physical weeks to finish painting and eggshelling him with a full-time job and a toddler. To make life worse, I had to deal with El Nino. Rain and cold temperatures tried to hamper my production considerably.

But, I didn't give up. I was out there with my winter coat, socks and magic glues, huddled under a tarp, painting away. Mambo became a great community attraction. All the neighbours stopped over for a chat and to check on the progress. Even some Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by - and for the first time did not want to talk about God!

Mambo created a lot of excitement at work too. We put up a gallery on toronto.com called Making of a Moose. It documents the work in progress from start to finish. And of course this experience has taught me many things and has given me lots of new ideas for my upcoming artwork."


About Karen