Etienne Constable, from Seaside, California, came up with a creative way of getting around a problem when he was ordered to hide his fishing boat parked on his driveway
A man who was ordered to hide his boat parked on his driveway installed a fence before getting an artist to paint a photo-realistic image of the vessel directly onto it.
Etienne Constable had kept his boat, which he regularly used for fishing, on the driveway of his home in Seaside, California for about four years before he received a letter from city officials. The letter informed Etienne of a municipal code requiring boats and trailers to be “screened on the side and front by a six-foot-high fence.”
Although angry at first, Etienne came up with a creative way of getting around the problem. After installing a fence which met the city requirements, he called on the help of neighbour and mural artist Hanif Panni.
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The artist painted a realistic image of Etienne’s white boat onto the fence, with the painting also including brick work from Etienne’s home, greenery from his front garden and his actual driveway. Amazingly, it has been painted onto the side of the fence facing the road, so anyone who walks past can view the work of art.
“We kind of hit the sweet spot between following the rules and making an elegant statement to the contrary,” Etienne told The Washington Post. In a separate interview with KSBW-TV, the homeowner said: “I’m all in favour of generating a discussion and making people smile. The reaction is extremely more than we ever expected and we’re both just tickled about it.”
Artist Hanif added: “I’m a big proponent for public art in spaces. I love creating public art in spaces. I think it engages people in ways that reaching out and having conversations doesn’t sometimes or if you are not there it kind of just inspires conversation.”
Hanif posted images of the finished work on social media and it quickly went viral. “Omg those neighbours who complained got the fence they deserved hahaha,” wrote one person in the comments. Another said: “This is amazing. Genius idea.”
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Nick Borges, Seaside’s acting city manager, was among those to see the images on social media before realising it was a local home. He later contacted Etienne to praise the idea.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that’s pretty creative.’ I laughed at it, and then I started getting calls from local media,” Borges said. He explained that the city had received numerous complaints from residents last year about lax code enforcement, so Etienne was one of many who received a letter notifying them of the code. Borges confirmed Etienne’s case was closed when the fence was installed and no further action will be taken.
