“Brought it down to the suburbs of Minneapolis,” said Diana Ellie Vin. “Everybody who drove by said, ‘hey is that Paul Bunyan?’ So people know exactly who he is.”
Ellie Vin is a full-time painter and self-taught artist from Blaine.
She recently finished painting a colorful mural of Paul Bunyan, Babe the Blue Ox and other familiar Minnesota sights in just 19 days.
Thanks to Ellie Vin’s creativity and foresight, the legendary lumberjack now has a home in the Blaine, Circle Pines and Lexington area at the Four Point Construction location.
“I had no idea how long this would take me,” Ellie Vin said. “This is the largest project I’ve ever done. It’s almost 50 feet wide, 12 1/2 feet tall. There’s an eagle in the sky. A loon in the water. A lot of Minnesota things. A boat on the shore. A little campfire. I got the moose from a children’s storybook.”
“Couldn’t be happier”
Ellie Vin’s creation is on the west side of the Four Point building. The painting is vivid, pays close attention to detail and has spruced up the area.
“One of the biggest pieces of feedback that I got was that this place has had an amazing facelift,” Ellie Vin said. “Only a couple years ago this place was very rundown, overgrown with trees, falling apart.”
“Couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out…” said Four Point GM Daniel Boehnen. “If it brightens their (visitors) day that’s all we’re looking for. We’re just looking to add a little bit of beauty to a world that tends to focus a bit more on ugly than the beautiful things that we’ve got.”
Paul Bunyan is the ultimate Minnesota icon and a literal giant up north.
“I think so,” Ellie Vin said.
Ellie Vin has been fascinated by his mythical status for decades.
“That’s probably my oldest childhood Minnesota reference, driving up to Bemidji, Ellie Vin said. “Driving up to the cabin. Or the resort.”
It was Four Point who contacted Ellie Vin.
“I feel really fortunate and lucky,” Ellie Vin said.
Up-north concept
Four Point came up with the Paul Bunyan theme and wanted an up-north concept.
“The four (fingers) that Paul Bunyan is holding up is for Four Point Construction,” Ellie Vin said. “The Four Point on the Minnesota license plate. They wanted a guitar in the back seat. Several of them are musicians that work here.”
“It gives a little homage back to Minnesota,” Boehnen said. “We wanted to pay a little tribute to the state and the community that has supported us and I think that we’ve been able to accomplish that.”
Ellie Vin believes this painting is her personal pinnacle.
“Oh, I’m absolutely happy with it,” Ellie Vin said. “It’s my favorite mural I’ve done. I love it…They were just really excited to see this up in their neighborhood.”
Ellie Vin has painted approximately 35 to 40 murals in Minnesota, Nebraska and North Carolina.
