NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, and created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas (www.innerspacesandouterplaces.com). Examples of artists' work can be found on www.verobeachartclub.org/) The Mural consists of six stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors are welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.
Again we are painting without Dawn, as she has classes today. We hope she is feeling better too. Christine and I both discussed how difficult it is to get here in the morning, getting out of our snuggly beds. However, once the brush is dipped in paint everything changes. We then become creators of life. Well, maybe not real life, but life on the canvas. With acrylic, I am learning, painting animals is especially exciting because as you apply each layer you can see the smudges of paint gradually come to life, and in a rather short time. And if the eyes are painted looking out from the canvas, it is almost as if they are alive. Once the final touches are applied it is so satisfying to stand back and really see it in the context of the whole panel. As we paint we are always cognizant of how the children will react to it. Therefore no animal will have a lower part of the food chain in its mouth or talens.
Today we had about 7-8 people pop in to take a peek, a very nice couple who saw the article about the mural in Indian River Magazine and were amazed at the canvases. A little girl who pops in whenever she can inbetween her dance lessons at the Community Center. She loves the manatees. And her mom, Nicole and her mother (below) who stayed and chatted with us for a while.
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| Visitors Nicole and her mom |
Christine today enhanced her clownfish and other fishies. She also continues to fine tune the octopus, applying layer after layer of color. Those troublesome suction cups on the backside of the octopus' tendrils are so interesting, however painting them is very labor intensive. Below is a detail of Christine's progress on Panel #6.
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| Christine Thomas' clownfish on Panel #6 |
Below is the whole of Christine's panel #6, coming along beautifully. We are all learning a lot about the various ecosystems as we do our research, but the underwater world is by far the most colorful, interesting, and unbelievably beautiful of all. If man were to discover life on another planet, I bet it wouldn't be as bizarre as some of the life right off our shores here in Vero Beach Florida.
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| Underwater life on Christine Thomas' Panel #6 |
So for myself, today was an exciting one, having been able to complete two whole critters which now is my favorite thing to do.
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| Blue Heron on Judy Burgarella's Panel #2 |
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| Detail of Judy Burgarella's Panel #2 - turkey from last week, new is turtle and scrub peninsula. |
Below is the complete panel #2. Newly painted, besides the turtle and heron, is a little patch of pickerel weed and fern at the water's edge, and some scrub bushes and grasses. Next session I hope to paint that snake hanging on the dead branch ... and have him looking right out at you!
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| Judy Burgarella's Panel #6 |
Well, that's all for now. I wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving ... and remember that bald, bumpy ugly and headless turkey you'll be shoving stuffing into Thanksgiving morning once looked as beautiful as the one in my painting!
Regards,
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project
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