A Love Letter to Portland

Hi everyone!

I just finished this big retaining wall mural for an apartment complex in Northwest Portland. I’ve worked with this client before, but was still sort of awed when they said: “what’s YOUR vision for this wall?” and then accepted the first sketch I made. It’s pretty amazing and extremely rare to have a client give me full creative freedom to make a sketch. It’s even more amazing and rare to have that sketch accepted, just as I created it. Usually, my clients come to me with an idea – anywhere from very specific imagery, colors, etc., to having a vague theme to work with. But this time, I just got to go for it. To be fair though, I did keep my audience in mind, and wasn’t about to go totally out of control weird with it either. Afterall, this wall is in a residential neighborhood, and I wanted to make sure it would appeal to at least most folks living there.

The theme is sort of a love letter to Portland. I love how we can live an urban lifestyle in the city, and in 20 minutes, be in the country or in the middle of a forest. We can be on the coast OR the mountains in a little over an hour. It’s an exceptionally awesome place to live, in that way. I organized this feeling into a loooong, short wall. On the right, we’ve got a night scene of the Portland skyline, with street lamps, owls, stars, and a bridge (duh.) As we move left, we see the city transition into natural landscape, and more daytime light and colors. I love this city, and I hope that comes across and is relatable to the people who walk by this wall, or see it every day when they are almost home. Beautiful, magical, weird, Portland.

 

 

Family Tree...Willow Style!



Hi everyone!

 

I made this last weekend! This was done to celebrate a new marriage for an older couple. The tree will have pictures from of their respective families hung over it, in honor of combining their lives. I just love that. I love how sometimes people use my murals as a symbolic gesture. Or as therapy... you decide! I definitely hear a lot of stories in this job. Which is not, I know, maybe what you expect. People tell their hairdressers their life stories, that's a given. But also apparently, their muralists. And I love it a lot.

 

This was a fun one! Can't wait to see how it looks when the pictures are hung on top!

 

Cheers to the (almost) weekend, everyone! Be good.

 

 

 

The Coziest Mural

 Hi Everyone,

 

Sure feels weird to blog about something so fluffy, in light of the recent Orlando shooting tragedy. There's nothing new to say that would fully express my feelings about it. I keep thinking about how important queer spaces are for the exact purpose of having SAFE spaces where people can be themselves. That sense of safety was shattered, on Pride month, no less. It's just plain heartbreaking. I want to just promote this page that is collecting donations for the victim's families, before moving on. Hopefully this mural will bring a little lightness and color to your day, if your heart is hurting too.  

 

I made this mural the weekend before last, in my home town of Eugene. My parents still live there, so it was an added bonus to get to hang out with them while working on this. And sure nice to have a dad to bring me random supplies I forgot, and a mom to bring me a milkshake. Perks of being home for work, I tell you!

 

This mural is in a new yarn shop called "Cozy" that is opening in Eugene, OR. in mid-July, at 285 E. 5th St. The idea is to have all of the furnishings in the shop be in white, while the only pops of color will be the actual yarn on the shelves, and my mural in classroom area in the back of the shop. It's about 30ft. long, so not exactly subtle! We played with the idea at first, of just doing a giant granny square afghan, blown up large-scale across the whole wall. Then, I thought to have just crochet circles on a while background to keep it fresh, modern, and more in tune with the store's look.

 

I was excited about the concept sketches, but I can actually say I was a bit nervous about the actual execution of this one. I didn't know how I was going to tackle it until I was staring down the giant blank wall - no plan. The first circle (far right) was a learning circle, and took awhile. After completing that one, I found a rhythm, and just let it flow out of me. And now I know how to tackle painting crochet work, just in case I ever get asked to do that again, ha! It was fun to have a challenge, and then solve the creative puzzle. Creative puzzles are my favorite.

 

Enjoy! And be nice to each other.