MAGIC mural to come!

Hi everyone,

I'm sitting here in the airport during a layover on my way home to Portland. I just finished up a week-long mural painting trip in San Diego! It was a very intense and productive trip. I finished three bigger murals, painted clouds onto a blue ceiling sky, plus a few smaller vignettes. Muraling that intensely is physically exhausting (murals are big and command lots of movement in themselves... add climbing up and down scaffolding a million times to that and you get one tired Corie!) But a very good trip overall. Though there were moments of terror (I hate heights!) There were also many moments - hours even - where the exterior world melted away, my own thoughts melted away, and all I was left with was that blissful feeling of "flow." Painting is so good. #addictedtoflow

I opened up my laptop just now with the intention of blogging about the trip and posting a ton of pictures, but I found this post in my drafts, waiting to be published. So, I'll post about my San Diego trip next time. But for now, a look forward at what's to come! 

I made the following mock-ups for a client in photoshop, and I get to paint it in a couple weeks!! This one is a bit more loose, playful, and generally magical than I'm used to painting for commission work. I'm super excited to be allowed the freedom to make this on a wall that doesn't belong to me. I think that painting something like this has a bit more to say than some of my other work. It feels like it has more of an opinion, if that makes sense. Instead of just saying, "this is Portland."... It says, "my city is SO beautiful - especially at night." Also, COLOR! Can't wait. 

Happy saturday, friends!

What it's like.

So this blog is sometimes picture-heavy, sometimes has art lesson plans for kids, but sometimes is just a place where I tell you about my life and what it feels like.

I was talking to my mom tonight, and she asked me about my day - my first day of painting at a new mural job. She asked if I was scared. You know what? I was scared. I guess I always kind of am. Before and during the very first brushstrokes can be a terrifying time. 

My inner voice says:  "WAIT! DON'T!! YOU'RE MESSING UP SOMEONE'S WALL AND WHAT IF IT'S WEIRD OR YOU CAN'T PAINT GOOD TODAY AND THEY DON'T LIKE IT AND YOU HAVE TO RE-PAINT THEIR WALLLLLL!!"

I had just scribbled with brown paint all across their wall - sketching in everything and where it will go. And the voice starts in... "SCRIBBLES!!! PEOPLE ARE PAYING YOU MONEY FOR THIS...."

But I put in my headphones, pick up the brush, and soon I am lost in the "flow". Things start happening on the wall without my thinking about them consciously. My brain stops and my hands and eyes take over. I'm seeing things, but I hear no voice - no self-talk - no doubt. I think everyone experiences this "flow" for different things in their lives. My "thing" is painting, but other people might experience this when they run, or dance, or play tennis, or anything else that makes you just tune out everything else and focus on your "thing". Even if what you're tuning out, is yourself.

Bravery isn't about not being scared. It's about being scared and doing it anyway. Making that first brown scribble on a perfect, beige wall - knowing that now there's no going back. The self-doubt and the fear are not things I've gotten over. I think I'll always have that initial terrifying moment. But I always eventually find the "flow" and along with it, the trust in myself that "flow" will carry the project through. These scribbles will inevitably turn into something much cooler. It's ok to be scared, but try to be brave also, and do your best to trust yourself. 

Today the wall is brown. Tomorrow, I add greens! Stay tuned for a picture-heavy post. ;)

Hoya Vine Mural

 The Hoya plant, a succulent creeper vine with fragrant, delicate flowers, has graced this sitting room for a long time.  My job, was to celebrate the plant by continuing its vines all along the big bay windows in the room.  I really loved the final look of this, especially in the areas where the real vine was growing right over my painted vines!  Another creative take on a mural with 3-d elements.  My mural clients are always amazing me with their great ideas, and I'm always happy to help bring them to life.

 I recently got interviewed by someone about what I do, and she asked me, "What do you think about when you paint a mural?".  "Nothing, if I can help it!"  I told her.  I like to listen to podcasts or music with lots of lyrics, so that my mind won't have room to start thinking it's own thoughts, but just listen to others'.  If I think too much about what I'm doing, over-analyzing, second guessing and trying to rationalize my creative decisions, it can take me out of my "flow" and ruin things.  Of course there are times when I have to really think when I'm painting, to figure out perspective or something, but I guess what I mean is that I try to eliminate negative or doubting "self-talk" that is not constructive, and just trust in my own instincts as much as possible.

Having recently been asked about all this, while I was painting this mural, I observed my emotions more closely.  When I'm painting a mural, especially a repetitive one like this one, my brain and body go in and out of a trance-like meditation.  Is this what runners feel when they are running at their best? "Bliss", "Flow", "Meditation", whatever you want to call it, I am grateful to experience it in my own way.