Oct. 24th: Our 39th Mural Painting Session

 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 consistes 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.

Christine here, filling in for Judy, she is off for the week, her daughter and darling new granddaughter are visiting from California. I am jealous, but hopefully will be able to get my 'grandma fix' when she brings the baby to the community center for a visit. Dawn was off too, she was fulfilling her duties at the Artist Guild.

Usually we are painting and chatting, but we do notice that we all get in the 'zone' at about the same time...and it gets soooo quiet. I guess I was in the 'zone' all day since I was painting alone.

 I worked on getting the sea turtles started, and the beginnings of a large octopus. Being that this is the Treasure Coast, I must include some of the treasures that local diver/treasure hunter Mel Fisher found off our coast. There was a fleet 11 ships that wrecked in 1715. One in particular was the Capitan which is located off of the Riomar golf course. I have started with a canon and will add the jewels, gold and other artifacts and maybe even Mel.

Sea Turtles in progress.

Bottom of final canvas with cannon and octopus beginnings.

Dawn is solo painting Tuesday...hopefully Dawn and I will be there together on Wednesday and Judy will bring her little sweetie pie here to see us. Right Judy :)

Christine Thomas

Mural blogger for today. 

October 21st, our 38th Mural Painting Session

 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 consistes 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.

Dawn, Christine and I worked pretty much throughout the day, only breaking for lunch and laughs, interrupted occasionally with back-and-forth about the mural.  Dawn and I had worked some extra hours during the week and so got a bit ahead.

Christine had a smashing day at painting today.  She painted in puffer fish, parrotfish and some dazzling little golden fish (can't remember the names), which almost vibrated off the canvas due to the deep blue background.  This panel is sure to be a favorite of the young folk.



Panel #6 - Christine's fishes

Dawn spent most of her day on Panel 5 refining the Driftwood, and working on the foliage at the southwest area of the panel.  She roughed in some bathers on the beach, and tweaked other areas.  Below is her progress so far



Panel #5 - Back of Driftwood Inn

Dawn's turtles are sure to be a hit with the children also.  One of the very special things about Vero, and some other shoreline localities, is the turtle baby march into the ocean.  The nests are numerous, and protected by yellow warning tapes.  Nesting season is June-August with hatchlings emerging 60 days later during the night time.  One must not trapse to the beach with flashlights and interfere with their migration to the water, however a red light will not disturb them and you will be able to see them without stepping on one.   




Pictured is Dawn hard at work on Panel #5.  We were all in such deep concentration today that long stretches of time went by without a word ... just the quiet sound of brush on canvas (and an occasional "Oops!" or other commonly-used words which are used relieve one's stress, when one of us splattered or spilled paint).


Dawn Mill Painting on Panel #5

I had a great time today, finally into painting some animals again, although I did do lots of work on palm tree trunks, oak trees and I scumbled in brush and treetops on the east side of Panel 2.  Tuesday I came in extra and moved the orange orchard and painted in the cowboys on horseback at the Sexton Farm, and finished up the Florida panther. 


Panel #2, Florida Panther and Raccoons

 And today I painted in the cows in back of the cowboys.   Such fun.



Panel #2 - Sexton Farm by Judy Burgarella

Christine had a great suggestion that I paint in an artist painting "en plein air," and also at her suggestion I painted in our dear friend and Gallery colleague Lionel Ogilvie, who loves painting outdoors.  He's not finished yet, but his stance is looking a bit like him.



Panel #2 - Artist Lionel Ogilvie paints en plein air.


Also in the beginning stages is a mama eagle guarding her nest.  There will be eaglebabies in there somewhere at a later date.  Mama eagle needs to be enlarged though which will have to wait.



Panel #2 - Mother eagle watching over nest

Next week there may be no postings, as some previous commitments have come up with some of us, but stay tuned because perhaps Christine will post.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

October 17th, our 37th Mural Painting Session



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 consistes 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.
Today just Christine and I were at the mural. We had a slow start, chatting about critters and looking at images, trying to decide angles, colors and perspective.  Perspective is perplexing with many of the elements, obviously structures pose a problem in trying to capture the essence of an area of the city with limited space on the canvas and the need for making interesting choices.  Then there are the trees and animals, which we hoped would make sense size-wise from one panel to the other, depending on their position in height on the panel.  Compositional problems prevented us from achieving perspective perfection (say that 5 times fast!) in some cases, but to quote Dawn, "It's a mural, not a fine art masterpiece!"  But above all, we hope the mural will be entertaining to the eye and interesting to the mind.

Although we are anxious to complete this mural as it starts to encroach more on our time during this our busy season in the art world, the mural has become an integral part of our everyday lives.  It creeps into our thoughts during off-time as we pass a nice tree, critter, or anything else we notice that may look great in the mural, or should be in there because it is part of our lives here on the Treasure Coast.  We know that when the mural is finished we'll discover many things that should have been painted in.  There are so many wonderful places, animals, plants, and things to do here that we would need many more panels to portray it all.  Now to the good part ... pictures:

Below is Christine's panel #6, which includes a bit of the beach off Ocean Drive, but mostly Vero Beach's unique coral reef.  She has big plans to include many many interesting underwater life forms, and as her research shows there are extraordinary-looking beings that could rival anything you would find in outer space!  And oh, the colors.  Whatever beautiful colors we have up here in the form of flowers, butterflies, bugs, trees, etc., you will find even more of the color spectrum underwater in the form of tropical fish, coral, and the enless varety of life forms that live in and around the coral reef.


Christine Thomas' Panel #6, Coral Reef, beginning sketches

Below is a close-up of a fish (can't remember what she told me it was) that Christine worked on.  The colors and markings are amazing, and it is oh so cute!



Colorful little fish on Panel #6

Shown below show Christine's sketches, the first act of an underwater ballet.



Christine Thomas' Turtle Sketches

Below is a close-up of Mr. Shark ... can't you just hear the background music of "Jaws"?

 

On Panel #6, Christine's Mr. Shark is coming right at you!



Below is my Panel #2 progress as of the end of the day today.  I poked around here and there wherever my passion took me, but the next painting session there needs to be more upper background finished before proceeding to the foreground plants and animals.  I just couldn't wait to start that Florida panther though.  He is very roughed in, as in my reference picture the panther's position needed to be reversed and I found that very difficult to achieve.  So tomorrow I'll arrive with a "flipped" image to paint.

 



Judy Burgarell's Panel #2, Western Vero

Below I've put the finishing touches on lantana behind the tree stump, refined the strangler fig a bit, and roughed in the Florida panther.



 

Panel #2, bottom left section



Shown below is the upper left portion of Panel #2, the Sexton Ranch, a Vero Beach landmark and family name that has historical roots in the City.  Pictured is a small orange grove, and soon-to-be painted in will be cattle and cowboys.



Sexton Ranch on Panel #2

Tomorrow will be an extra painting day for me.  A rough estimate of 250+ hours of painting so far for each of us, not including all the time researching online, in books, libraries, parks, nature centers, etc.  We are putting the push on now, trying to see a "complete" date in our near futures.  But it's really fun to spend the day painting and collaborating with likable like-minded people.  Not a bad way to spend the day.

Ciou!
Judy Burgarella

Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

October 14th, our 36th Mural Painting Session

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 consistes 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.


Today was a pretty productive day for the three of us.  We all worked on our final panels, leaving our first panels just a bit unfinished.  Although we all were yawning a good part of the day, we trudged on mixing the day with paint and sarcasm as usual.  Time flew, and before we knew it it was time to pack up.  But in between we had a couple of visitors who thoroughly enjoyed their stop, and one or more of us always stops to take the time and explain some of the old and some of the new murals. 

Below is Christine working on her final panel, mapping out divers, turtles and other critters.  She's got big plans for her final panel, and we each enjoy hearing the other's ideas, sometimes adding our own to theirs.  Christine and Dawn's panels are intertwined so their collaboration is essential and co-dependent on each other's design.



Christine Thomas mapping in her final panel, underwater divers and critters


The following picture shows Dawn concentrating on the fencework/porch in the back of the Driftwood Resort on Ocean Drive.  Shown in the background are the businesse along the west side of Ocean Drive, rendered expertly by an excellent draftsman.  She'll be painting in turtle nests and other critters and more bathers soon.



Dawn Mill painting in the wood work of the Driftwood Resort


Below is Dawn's panel #5, looking more and more like Vero's section of the Barier Island we all know and love.  Dawn plans to project all the wonderful things to do and enjoy in this small slice of paradise on panel #5.

Dawn Mill's Panel #5, Ocean Drive, Dunes and Beach


  Today I finally got to paint in a critter.  Below are a mama and baby raccoon peeking out from a dead treestump which I also painted today.   At the base of the stump is a partially completed lantana shrub, one of my favorite Florida wildflowers.  The stump will be the perch for other animals and birds, which I will figure out over the weekend.  Lots of research materials to pour over.



Judy Burgarella's first critters painted in on Panel #2


Below is pictured today's progress on Panel #2.  Also started is a strangler fig scumbled in around the palm tree in the foreground. 



Judy Burgarella's Panel #2


Well, that's it for now.  Be sure to check this blog out Mondays and Fridays now as each painting session more and more critters start marching-crawing-hopping-flying and -slithering around our canvases!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

October 10th, Our 35th Mural Painting Session

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 consistes 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.

Today, Monday, we painted in a different room in the Community Center, which worked out quite well.  We got a good deal accomplished, and I was very happy with mine today, although I am never completely satisfied and feel I could do abetter job.  We all have had false starts, having to revisit perspective, colors, shapes, etc. quite often because of the size of this project.  It helps to be able to see it projected very small on this screen, and many times we can pinpoint troubled areas.  As I write this it is actually Tuesday evening (I lied), and Dawn and Christine had painted at the mural much of the day so the mural is even farther along than this posting.

I arrived at 8:30, set up everything and got busy repainting the gumbo limbo tree, as we felt the trunk was too short.  "Bursera simaruba" is a very complicated and interesting tree, it can grow to 50-60 feet and is very hurricane resistant, sprouts from branches just stuck into the ground, and the gummy, turpentine-scented resin has been used in the in the West Indies for making glue, varnish, liniments, and as a coating for canoes. The aromatic sap is also used as a treatment for gout, while the leaves are brewed into a medicinal tea. Many birds love its fruit.  The reddish peeling bark has dubbed it the "tourist tree."  I found a beauty living on the Sebastian Community Center property, which I have used as a model for my panel #2.

Below pictured together are Panels #2 and #3, and today some of my work was focused on blending the two together.  In the foreground is the beginnings of a dead tree so to make a place for critters, which I am anxious to get to.  Way in the back will be the Sexton Farm, along with horses, cattle and cowboys.  Things in Paneld #2 look like they're floating yet, as much more has to be painted in to make it look real.


Panel #2 by Judy Burgarella and Panel #3 by Dawn Mill


Below is Christine's panel #4, which segues from Dawn's #3 above.  There's a lot of action on this panel--manatees, stingrays and porpoise, oh my!  Christine has spend many hours researching her critters and the environment they live in.  We hope this mural will be an environmental "gem" that will be used not only as a reflection of all that Vero Beach has to offer, but as a learning tool for schoolchildren.  There will be an accompanying binder with a legend and information about each habitat represented, including interesting data about animals, plants and trees, people, buildings and more.  Oh, and we have lots of plans for putting stuff in the sky too!

Dawn has progressed greatly on her Panel #5, Ocean Drive and dunes, and after talking to her today she noted that the buildings are just about finished--can't wait to see them.  They look fantastic even at this stage.  At this point below, however, she had refined the plants and trees adjoining Christine's panel #4, which are starting to come together.  Cactus, palms and seagrapes reside side by side to make an interesting and very contrasting collection of plants lining up on the beach.  Notice the white tent on the left side--this is to represent "Art in the Park," a familiar sight on certain Sundays at Humiston Park where the Vero Beach Art Club has its monthly show.  As a project being totally sponsored by the "Club," it is only fitting they be represented in the mural.

Dawn Mill's Panel #5

At the end of the painting day Monday we put the panels together and just stood at the other end of the room and marveled at our creation.   Ah, it is good to be an artist and be able to create your own paradise!  (Actually, it's not our own created paradise ... it's what Vero Beach really is!)

Vero Beach Mural, all six panels as of October 10th, 2011

Anyway, it's gonna be good, so stay tuned as we ad many more animals, people, plants, trees and flowers.  Hope you enjoyed the view so far.

Regards,
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Projct

October 3rd, our 33rd Mural Painting Session

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 consistes 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.


Dawn and Christine were delayed today, so I painted for a while in the quiet of an empty room.  I decided to be bold, and just paint in a nice big tree in the middle of Panel #2, breaking the basic rules of composition.  I found a beautiful gumbo limbo (I love that name!) tree at the Community Center in Sebastian, took pictures of it, and now it's in the mural.  So there's a little of Sebatsian (my home town) in the mural, which is nice.

Vero Beach Art Club president Rita Ziegler stopped by to see the mural, and she was very pleased with the progress so far.  Christine arrived, and shortly after Dawn called to see what we wanted her to pick up for lunch.  So we ate our lunch, discussed ideas and solutions for the mural, then got straight to work.

Below is my Panel #2.  As you can see I have painted a gumbo limbo tree in, however the dappled light needs to be corrected.  I worked some on the shoreline and sketched in some pines and oaks.  Such a big canvas is very intimidating, but I'm finally over that hump on Panel #2.



Adding trees to Judy Burgarella's Panel #2


Christine has perfected her rendering of a blue crab.  Looks like he's going to walk right off the canvas.  She also filled in lots of greens and lagoon bottom shadows.



Christine Thomas' blue crab on Panel #4


Pictured below is Dawn's Panel #5, where she has refined the children, and painted in lots of greenery to help her panel seguey onto Panel #4.



Dawn Mill's Panel #5


Pictured below is Dawn and Christine, discussing plants and animals to put in the mural, as their murals segue onto each other's.

Dawn and Christine discuss elements of the mural

I will be missing Friday's painting session, as my schedule is rather tight with two shows this weekend: 1) featured artist at the Artists Guild Gallery, right down the street from the murals (Also Gallery Stroll night, 5-8 pm); 2) Pitching a tent with my art at the Family Jamboree show in the Indian River Fairgrounds Family Jamboree.  I'll be anxious to see Chris and Dawn's progress.  Stay tuned!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

October 1st, our 32nd Mural Painting Session

 (c)2011 Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill, Christine Thomas

 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 consistes 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.
Today Dawn and I painted until about 10:00 when Sue Dinenno, our interviewer, and Bob Barbour, our videographer, arrived to go over the edits.  Bob is creating a video for the Mural Project for the Vero Beach Art Club.  So we did a run-through first of just voice with quick editing comments, then voice with video, quite a production.   I think the video is fabulous, and is sure to peak the public's interest in seeing the finished work in person.  Christine arrived just as Dawn and I were finishing up the edits, but Christing did another run-through herself, then we got back to the canvases for a while before stopping for lunch.

Although we didn't have a lot of time to paint today, I managed to readjust the barrier island and lagoon to better reflect perspective of it relative to the mainland, and I segued my Panel #2 with Dawn's Panel #3, rather nicely I would say.  I hope to get some trees in there on Monday.

Christine finished her stingray and some other little fishies.  She'll soon be painting in a conglomerate of underwater life on Panel #6, following Dawn's Beachy scene on Panel #5.


  
Below you can see where Christine has added more greenery and fishes to Panel #4.


Christine's Panel #4

Dawn is moving right along on her Panel #5, putting in the surfer and some seagulls stealing cookies!  So cute!


Detail of Dawn Mill's Panel #5


Dawn's panel #5 looks almost complete, however she still has lots to do on it.

Although we didn't have a lot of time to paint today, I managed to refine the barrier island to better reflect it's relationship to the mianland, and I painted in a seguey from my Panel #3 to Dawn's panel.
 

Segueing from Judy's Panel #2 onto Panel #3


Well, that's all for now, Judy Burgarella, Blogger, signing off!