Horse Stable Door Mural

It's hard to know what your baby will be "into" as they get a bit older, so a nursery theme can be quite different from the child's interests as they grow. That is what happened to a customer of mine. She had a purple, garden themed nursery painted by another muralist for her baby girl. Very cute!


But when the girl grew to the ripe ole' age of three, she became obsessed with horses. Because the other muralist had moved away, I was called in to add to the room. The mom did not want to paint over the original mural, but wanted to incorporate the girl's love of horses. This was going to be tricky because the room had very little wall space left. The only blank canvas was the closet door! Because the door's designed panels, it was a perfect solution.


So, I painted the door to look like a horse peeking through a stable door! Notice the winning ribbon, too!


And, I also tied in the bedding by painting a horse pasture scene on the toy box at the foot of her bed.


What a great way of keeping the integrity of the original nursery theme, yet updating it by including the child's new interests. The room will grow with the girl and she will be able to greet her very own horse everyday! Hmm... I wonder what she named it?

School Murals are a Gogh!

These past few years, I have been painting a lot of fun murals in the various buildings of my local school system.

I've painted everything from school logos in gymnasiums,

department labels above doorways,

the American flag above the stage,

and even a continental animal theme throughout the entire elementary school (see my website for that gallery of photos, www.youreart.com).

This summer, the middle school required some artistic attention. There was an open wall space on the second floor that the principal was looking to fill with a mural of some sort, but we didn't know what. We didn't want to fill it with our mascot or anything athletic and we badly needed a theme!
After being inspired by one of my favorite artists, I came up with a plan. I wanted to paint famous, highly recognizable works of art in the style of the original artist, but customize them to feature our school and community. I just finished the first of these works; The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. The original is shown above.

Here is my version. I tried to replicate Van Gogh's broad, thick brushstrokes and create patterns with color. I customized the painting by including our school name, a rendition of our school at the bottom, and even the little fountain that sits in the heart of our little downtown.

Hopefully, the mural will create discussions about Van Gogh and give a little visual zig to the hallway! More famous paintings are down the road, as I eventually give homage to Picasso and Seurat! Thanks for looking and I would love to hear your comments!