I painted another mural

I painted a mural and it helped reconnect some of my lost fragments, some of the broken pieces that fell off in the turmoil of the last year. Now that sounds really beautiful and moving but it wasn’t like something out of a movie.

It was small and subtle, like the brushstrokes of paint, one building on another.
Like the mural itself.

It came to me as an opportunity at the right exact perfect moment, in the perfect form. Cocoon to Butterfly and all.

I will be honest I don’t have a ton of mural experience, but what I lack in hours mastering the craft, I make up for in the belief that really I can make anything if I break it into steps, I research it a bit. Afterall, what is a master but someone who started at the beginning and kept going.

So when Jocelyn at Flourish Books and Plants asked if I would be willing to paint a mural for her business I immediately said yes, and started to make plans.

The only rules were that it needed to include well, books and plants, and knowing i love to paint flowers, a we both love a mix of magic, and well the mural sort of drew itself.

We decided the best approach was to attach the mural panels to the brick building rather then paint it on the building itself. To be honest, as an artist and mom with a full time job, being able to do this from my own space was the best mural ever!!

I transferred my sketch to the 4x8’ panels and started blocking out each section using exterior semi gloss paint. It was great to be able to stand each panel up or lay them flat on tables and move around them to work easier then over my head.

We are also lucky to have an enclosed porch that can accommodate a 16 foot mural so I didn’t have to paint in the ever changing weather conditions of Southwest Michigan.

Finished Mural @ Flourish Books and Plants- New Buffalo Michigan July 2024

Each night I was able to go out and paint for a few hours and turn the music up. After losing my dad this spring, I think maybe he sent this opportunity to paint something beautiful my way, as a way to process and grieve. A way to give me time to come out of my own cocoon.

I thought about him many nights while painting, and I thought about him driving past it if he were still here, and how it might make him smile. How he would call to tell me when he drove by and that it made him happy.

That’s really all I could want from this mural after all. Maybe you’ll drive past it or stop in to find a new treasure at Jocelyn’s shop and it will make you happy.

-Ashley