Photo courtesy of Nate Pfeil.
Drive down Rt 66 in Amarillo, a.k.a. “6th” by us locals, and you will now see a boldly colorful rendering of Palo Duro Canyon on the side of Blue Sage Pottery. Get out of your car and take a picture with our pottery shop dog superstar, Ranger, who is enjoying a hike up the Comanche Trail. Let him lead you into the twisting trees and teetering hoodoos as you pose for your latest Instagram post!
This 15 ft. tall, 70 ft. long mural was a collaboration between me and the amazing student team, Blank Spaces Murals, led by Shawn Kennedy and Shanda O’Neill. You’ve probably seen a number of their murals around town!
After spending a large chunk of the summer working on a contour drawing and a preparatory painting, I finally decided the collaboration was ready to begin. Figuring out how to weave together multiple inspirational photos and plan a large-scale mural by working in my usual expressive style had been mind-bending. I was relieved to finish that phase and begin working with the team!
The collab began with selecting paint colors to match my original piece. That was both fun and challenging! When painting, I mix most of my colors instinctively as hues pop into my mind. Selecting paints from a color wand was an altogether different process! It took three of us comparing colors and discussing possibilities to get the colors chosen! After the paints were selected, the team painted the walls with a vibrant red. This is exactly how I begin my landscape paintings. Next, we projected a line drawing onto the red wall and traced the lines with a darker red. From then on the mural progressed quickly. Afternoons were spent layering colors, conversing, adapting techniques, and watching the team translate my vision into reality. The pictures below say it all! Click through to see the whole process!
My original acrylic painting that the mural is based on.
Photo courtesy of Nate Pfeil.
