Painting a Colorful Abstract Mural

Here's another mural - this one is a colorful abstract mural done on a light blue bedroom wall.  It measures 9 x 10 feet and took about 11 hours from start to finish, including the time spent designing it in Photoshop. Here's the finished product:

Below is the "before" picture (big difference, huh?)

The first step was plotting out a rough design in Photoshop and here's what I came up with:

Seascape Mural

I recently completed a seascape mural for Golden Breath American Tai Chi, which is located on Cottman Avenue in Philadelphia, PA (http://www.goldenbreath.com).

All images are linked to larger verions
The aim was to create something appropriately peaceful for this active tai chi studio. The raggedy tree has a bonsai feel to it, and it stretches over the water and helps lead the eye through the rest of the scene. The bird also leads the eye further along, leaving the viewer to imagine what lies beyond the rocky coast on the far right side.

Both the left and right side have rocky shores. The tree is wind-whipped and worn, symbolically battered by life but as the saying goes, it bends and does not break. I intentionally kept the center of the mural "bare", with just the light filtering through the clouds and reflecting on the water. This symbolizes how through tai chi (as well as meditation, yoga, etc.) there is a place of light, tranquility and quiet between the rocky shores of our lives. The bird is also symbolic of freedom and adds a necessary "touch of life".

The mural measures 6.33 feet high by 22 feet wide. It took me about 20 hours to complete, including setup & clean up time. Another 2-3 hours were required for planning the mural and buying supplies.

Here are the steps that went into creating the mural, starting with the "before" picture of the wall:

My "other" mural

This is the first mural I did in my new home (at the writing of this blog, only been living here about 6 months).  This mural is in my living room and is a pleasure everytime I look at it.

Here's a view at an angle to show how it looks as part of the entire living room:

Painting a Tree Silhouette Mural

Colleen D. Gjefle - MsSurreal.com

I've painted some very intricate murals, but sometimes a simple silhouette mural is exactly what's called for. In this case, less is more for a hallway that is dark with no direct light and only a single bulb light fixture. It's also quite narrow - only 3 feet wide in the area in front of the bedroom door and flaring out to 5 feet as nears the stair railing. If it were wider I'd say to hang artwork, but since it's that narrow, any paintings hung there would frequently get knocked into. That's why a mural works so well.