Saturday, November 9, 2013

Mural for Olivia's House

Once more, an attempt to start posting more consistently...!

The past few weeks I spent designing and working on a mural for the new Olivia's House center in Hanover, PA.

Olivia's House is a children's grief/ loss organization that helps kids going through some pretty serious stuff. They first set up shop in York, PA, about 20 minutes east of me, and grew enough to be able to start another center, this time 15 minutes west of me. Good people doing good things, so I was pretty excited to do my first mural with them.

I was informed about this gig through another member of The Hanover Area Arts Guild, a local art community which I'm also a member of. The executive director of Olivia's House felt that my art would work well in the elementary-age kids' room, where they wanted a 'safari' theme. I love wildlife, so I was totally cool being give that project.

Style- As I don't yet have a specific style for my painting work, I hit the metaphorical books to get some inspiration for my style and technique. I decided to keep it simple but creative- incorporate line-work and abstract flat color shapes together for something fun, energetic, but also attainable as a project due in two weeks (first mural ever, remember?)

Assistance- Knowing that I could use some help to make sure this was finished on time safely, I asked members of The Black Rose Rollers roller derby league of Hanover to assist with the painting, and they were more than willing to help out.  Their assistance eased the pressure I had on myself to get the painting done by the opening day, as my room was the first one to open. My girlfriend, a high school drawing teacher, also helped out- that never hurts :)

A thank you also to the Hanover Giant grocery store on Eisenhower Drive for donating containers for paint.

Below are some progress pics.

For more information about Olivia's House, visit www.oliviashouse.org.
Find out more about Hanover Area Arts Guild: www.hanoverareaarts.com.
More information about The Black Rose Rollers, visit www.blackroserollers.com.
Giant Food Stores: www.giantfoodstores.com/shareddev/sharedcontent/OurStores/