My Biggest Mural Ever

In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life must you proceed with balance and stealth. ~Patti Smith

Yup, here it is ... the biggest mural I've ever painted. Ta daaaaaa! I painted this several months ago for my friends Doug and Durell, who live in my ole hometown of Jacksonville.

I waited a while to post it because my only photos of it were the ones my son took with my iphone:

Well, I guess that isn't so bad.

Anyway, D&D have a simply gorgeous dining room with lots of natural light and a beautiful vintage chandelier. It just needed a little visual interest to make it fabulous. Durell loves classic designs that seem breezy and effortless. When she came upon this House Beautiful feature, she fell in love (cue angels singing). So we copied the designer's handpainted wallpaper, which is based on a classic Swedish pattern.

As always, I started out with chalk sketches and went from there. After two solid days of painting, here's the result... I love the colors and the fact that the pattern is unusual, yet nature-inspired and calming. Isn't it great to have friends who are brave enough to strive for the unique? (And daring enough to let you paint all over their walls!)

Here are some details...
I added the little nest. It represents their home and their sweet little family -- mama, daddy and baby girl.

These flowers took me a while to get. I stressed about every little detail. Then I took a step back and realized those imperfections are what makes a handpainted mural special. Soooo ... it's really gonna be OK.
See? Take a step back and get some perspective. Maybe a good metaphor for life!