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MIRAMICHI - The fruits of a Miramichi artist's intricate labour are beginning to pay off.

For years, Gloria Savoie has been using wood as her canvas to portray the history of Miramichi, and her latest example landed her a $3,500 grant from the New Brunswick Arts Board.

Savoie's most recent work, entitled 'Daily Life in the Early Miramichi River Townships' is a 7-ft. by 7-ft. mural etched in pine which provides a window into life on the Miramichi in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Savoie said she relied on historic photographs and documents which referenced the unique events, people and places that shaped the Miramichi into what it is today.

"As an artist, I am interested in creating artwork that tells the Miramichi story," she said. Savoie also received an Arts NB grant in 2007 for yet another 7-ft. x 7-ft. mural etched in pine, this time depicting the region's heyday as a centre of lumber barons and ship builders.

This work, entitled 'The Birth of a Community: Timber and Tall Ships' was recently purchased by local eco-tourism group Miramichi Landings, which plans to use the mural as a centrepiece in a proposed shipbuilding museum under consideration for Ritchie Wharf in Newcastle. The piece can be observed at Ecole Carrefour Beausoleil beginning July 13, as part of an exhibit coinciding with the World Acadian Congress.