MY FIRST MURAL
Being that Im a muralist/artist………I wanted to find and share a pic of my bedroom I grew up in, with the mural that my parents painted for me. So i went to my parents, and we tried to dig up a picture , but couldnt find one anywhere….so, not one to give up, I tried to think “where can i find a pic of this?” ..then i remembered my aunt is an avid photophile (is that a word?) and she is ALWAYS taking pictures….. so maybe she has one……and she did!…hooray for auntie lois !
The point of this is…. I wanted to share my memory of this as a child, and how I feel this mural, and other little things around the house, contributed to my creativity, and eventually led to me becoming a professional artist, and having a generally creative outlook on the world….
I remember laying in my bed, staring at it, and my imagination would race with different stories and ideas of what the character were doing etc….and what it was like in their world. I would imagine what was beyond the hills and i could honestly hear the cat playing the fiddle and could imagine the character walking and flying etc…… I look at the pic of it now at 31, and it sure looked a lot more impressive when I was little……I really wonder and can only imagine how kids feel and think when they get one of our murals….actually, i do get to see how they react, and it is always rewarding……bouncing up and down and big smiles is a common reaction.
Another funny thing, I remember and think had an effect, was my room had orange shag carpet. Really dates me, hey?……I remember this so vividly, and remember pretending it was fire and lava. My brother and I would jump on the bed and stay off the “lava”!! One of my older paintings ”electric mosquitoes” was inspired by this….and to this day i still love the color orange and instinctually tend to include it in a lot of my work……… there was also a lot of brown in my room….my dresser, my drapes, wallpaper eventually……I tend to lean towards brown in a lot of my work too and generally just love this color and feel at home with it. Definite examples of how the surroundings you grow up in and associate happy times with, stick with you, at least on some level?
One more thing, a funny thing I remember doing when I was little…….I used to stare at the tiles in the shower of our bathroom…….the tiles had random patterns in them and I could see different faces and characters in them…….I remember discovering this way of looking at something in more than just one way…….they werent just tiles…..there was this whole other world of pictures hidden in them……I still tend to work this way…..by recognizing hidden imagery, and expanding on it until it unfolds as a painting or idea.
What do you think?……Do you remember any things like this from your childhood that influenced you creatively?…..Or do you notice anything like this from your children?…..If you have one of our murals already, how have your children responded?……I would really love to hear your stories!
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and look forward to your comments and experiences!! OH YEAH, THANKS MOM AND DAD FOR THE MURAL!
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