My Grandma would like this.

Ok, this is the craziest: I’m on a business trip! For my business I made! For doing this thing that is my #1 favorite art thing to do for other people, but people will also trade me real money for, that I can buy real things with!  That’s the craziest to me. Is this real life? This job is huge for me for a couple of reasons: #1, I’m making more money/hr. than I ever have or probably ever will again, which is awesome because money, but also #2, this means that someone (who is not friends or family) is telling me they find what I’m doing valuable and will treat me as a real professional. Which I guess is what I am. That feels good.  

I drove up here to Walla Walla, WA (GORGEOUS drive through the Columbia river gorge) yesterday after working a half day at my “real” job (also in love with that), and settled into my guest room at a retirement community here. The next morning, I had breakfast with the owner, and we took a tour of the building’s murals (they are everywhere and amazing). The muralist before me sadly died of cancer not too long ago, so here I am, the replacement. They built a brand new memory care unit right next door to this community, and that’s the building that I’ll be filling with murals. So after the morning meeting, this is what I made:

I’m happy with it, especially for a one-day project. The texture of the walls is PERFECT, and my instructions are to paint “impressionistic” with relatively low detail. Which is totally my jam.

While I was painting, I kept picking up brushes that had either, “Florie Gussis” or “FG” written on the handles in sharpie. My grandma labeled all of her art supplies with her name. I inherited these after she passed away, and now, I use both her brushes and her really nice acrylic paints (I only use those on canvas though, not walls). My grandma had Dementia. Now I’m using her brushes to paint a mural in a memory care facility for residents to enjoy, who have what she had. Something just feels so “full circle” about that. I know she would be proud of me right now and I miss being able to call her and my Grandpa to tell them about these exciting life moments. But I’m happy to have inherited her creative genes - she is with me always. 

Stay tuned for more... I’ll be here mural-ing all week. ;)