14th Day On The Wall

Today was so full of stuff...painting, people, planning, and pleasure!  The painting started a little late due to some stuff needing to be done before leaving home, like having two cups of coffee with Grandma and Scooter (our dog.)  Then jump in the truck, and have Tony follow me because we are working on the single extension ladder today.  The top of the wall will be complete.....or as complete as possible until the brushes quite pushing me along.  As soon as we pulled up and started to unpack the truck, a guy named Jim stopped by.  He started to talk about the water then jumped to some history about himself and the fact he and his wife moved here from Oregon.  We talked abit and exchanged some history between us, which was fun.  He was a delightful person and one I would love to talk with some more....interesting person and a Trentonian also.
Then came Levi and Bruce.  Levi is a pastor and an artist, and his son Bruce is a cartoonist.  Bruce is in middle school here in Trenton and will be in eighth grade this coming year.  His attitude was outstanding and he and his entire family have some artistic talent.  Levi said he was driving by and had to turn around to come back and look at the wall.  It beckoned to him, I am glad it did or I would not have met either of these wonderful artists.  Levi said he was passing a church and they were taking out the stained glass windows, he stopped, asked what they were going to do with them, they said throw them away.  So they threw them his way and he has planned to put together a picture with the glass pieces.  Can't wait to see it!
Then Juanita dropped by, she works at Old Plant Diner, and I remembered her because she served me a great piece of sausage one Saturday morning before going garage sailing with my girls, Susan, Willow, Grandma and me.  We love to look for great deals......and on the way home we stopped by the Old Plant Diner and I met Juanita.  But today she was getting gas at the Trenton Mart and we had time to discuss the wall and the sausage.  A great place to eat also "Old Plant Diner."  Then there were the waves, honks and words "really pretty", but what I loved seeing was not the compliments or words, but the smiles and nods, the appreciation of art is marvelous, it means something different to everyone.  Thanks for the nods and words....from you drivers out there.  It makes me want to finish in record time, or as I said earlier as the brushes dictate. 

Tony was watching me today paint with my hands, and I am sure he was wondering how in the world can you make a painting work when you are so close to it, and as murals go, you have to walk 1/4 mile away to see if what you have been painting works.  Well, it doesn't work that way for me.  I feel the wall, and it likes to respond to paint.  The Beautification Committee met tonight and we were standing by the wall discussing where the words, Trent River, Trenton, NC would be.  We had left a blank space on the wall for the sign, but after the vote tonight we have decided to put a sign on the wall, with permission from all parties still to be obtained. The sign would be in black and white and match the sign that hangs in front of the office of the building I am painting on.  So within a week we should have the answer to where the sign will be.  Can't wait for that!

After putting in the modulation this morning at the top of the mural, the path that goes through the painting began to appear.  I will begin to darken the path on Monday, and put in the animals.  We have had requests to include a rabbit, a deer, a raccoon, a red winged black bird, humming birds and butterflies.  All things found in our region, on the river and in our backyards.  Oh what a town to live in, one that has so much wildlife and some wonderful scenery also. 

When we met at the wall this evening, there were shadows on the wall that I had not seen before.  The Cottonwood Tree by the wooden fence draped its shadow on the trees that were recently painted.  The painting is doing what we hoped it would, it is using the surrounding real trees to make the mural actually 3-D. 

As you can see I am so excited about this piece.  Thank you Ben Casey for permission, thank you Dude Andrews for being on that river just in time to get your picture taken, thanks for being a member of our church, so I would get to know Diane and Nelson, your daughter and son-in-law.  Thank you Beautification Committee for choosing me to paint, and thank  you God for giving me your hands while I paint on that wall.  Without anyone of you I would not be having the time of my life.  As I said in a past blog day, I didn't paint murals in California, I might still be painting in a closet if I hadn't moved to Trenton.  Thank you all.

See you guys on Monday.  Willow took some good pictures today, so when she sends them I will post them separately, so keep looking, keep up the honks and nods, and don't hesitate to stop by and just talk, you all make my day.

Thanks Wesley for continuing to stop by and keep up with Willow, Gypsy and me.  You  have been coming by for over a year on Thursdays and we love seeing you. 

k