Mural Painting

             

                                     

                    

 

[detail of] Untitled mural (pink hair) 2013.
Acrylic and latex paint on plywood. 4 x 8'

I've had a busy stretch of days starting on Friday September 13th 2013 (my last blog post) involving a lot of driving with my car (and it's loud exhaust) as well as the death of a close and dear family member.  I've been home to be with family for a good chunk of days and have otherwise been entangled in life's responsibilities.  My busyness will continue to keep up the consistency until the weekend with an early trip back to Buffalo, New York to pick up "La Petite Gateau" from 464 Gallery, a 4-hour managers meeting at work, and a long closing shift,  but I'll make it through it.  Luckily, I'll be able to enjoy  a small holiday to Delaware with Gregory, his sister, and brother-in-law to a brewery tour and then stress over the 10K run I signed up for.  Eeek!

The photographs above were taken at the I <3 Utica Music and Arts Fest/Greensfest on Saturday September 14th 2013.  Overall, it was fantastic day of creating art publicly (a very new thing for me), talking with other artists, meeting new people, and being a part of community festival.  I painted alongside another amazing artist in the art collective, Project U Arts, for about 7 straight hours (with the exception to use the indoor plumbing, get water, wash brushes, or clean paint off of myself).  It was truly a great experience.  

I was stressing over what to paint for a couple days, because of the large size of plywood I would be painting on.  The content wasn't anything new...I do love drawing ladies with detailed coiffures, but the scale certainly was!  Between you and me, I really sort of just went with things and simply just started painting.  If I had more time to dedicate to the mural, or the space to house it, I would have enjoyed adding layer and layers of more detail.  Also, though the photos may not depict it, the plywood was not all smooth to paint over which added more time to it all.

Unfortunately the murals were only up during the time of the festival at Mohawk Valley Community College from about 10-6pm.  They are currently nestled safely in storage at an artist residency called Sculpture Space  also in Utica, New York for the time being.  I've also donated my mural to a skatepark in Canastota, New York, because of it's size.  Maybe my mural will inspire a skater or bmx girl.  I thoroughly enjoyed the community experience of all while doing something I absolutely enjoy doing; creating art.  I'm very pleased with my completed mural and look forward to being able to work and paint at that scale again.