Forestry Court Apartments Mural

Hi everyone!

In my mission to post about a backlog of projects, today I'm sharing a very Northwest-y mural. This project came about when I was asked to paint something on the walls of an apartment building's lobby. This building is located in Northwest Portland, close to Forest Park - a lush backdrop of forest covered hills over the city's west side. The name of the apartments - Forestry Court - and it's proximity to actual forest, inspired a pretty obvious choice for the mural's imagery. The lobby is fairly dim, with little natural light, so I knew that I wanted to infuse a bit of "daylight" into the mural. A whole lot of Indian Yellow helped me create an illusion of that magic "golden hour" feel. It's that time of day when the sun is getting ready to start setting, and there are long shadows on the ground, and everything turns, well, golden. We knew we wanted to cover all of the available walls in the room, which was one large and prominent wall, plus two tall and narrow walls to the sides. Though there were hallways cutting through between the walls, I wanted them all to work together to create one cohesive piece. Then, the viewer's imagination could then fill the empty spaces between. 

I always enjoy the challenge of making it look like light is shining through the leaves on a tree. That almost-neon green that is formed by a back-lit leaf is so juicy and bright to look at in the natural world. Hard to capture in a painting, but worth trying. 

Once the main walls were done, I waited for a warmer day to paint some areas in the outside entryway. I figured just some greenery would help beautify the empty spaces in the tiling, and serve as a preview to what you'll see when you enter the building. 

I remember painting this in such a "flow" state - almost a trance. Nature is something I'm pretty darn used to painting by now, so it doesn't require a whole lot of thought - at least not conscious thought. When painting this kind of subject matter, what it really requires of me, is to turn off my conscious thought process, and just let my hands do their thing. It's projects like this, when I will listen to podcasts and audiobooks, to keep my mind occupied while my hands do the work. More complicated projects require more thinking (architectural or geometric work is like this). Does this make sense? It's just one of those things I've come to learn and nurture about the way my brain works.

This project totally inspired me to paint something like this in my home. I want a forest wall! Or door, or garage door, or kitchen. My house only has one mural so far - another project on the list to share. More to come!

Hope you enjoy the pictures and video of this fun forest-y mural!

How and why am I a Graphic Designer - Story time!

Hi everyone!

Another quarter of the year has passed, blog-less. I'm really going to try and change that habit, and do more creative things that feel good. Writing about my life and current projects is one of those things. 

I want to write about my Day Job today. My J.O.B. My 9-5. If you follow me here and not in real-life, you may just know me as a muralist/art teacher type. But I am also a Graphic Designer. This is the story of how I became one.

Looking back at my life, as soon as I discovered that you could create art in digital spaces as well as traditional analog ones, I was IN TO IT. When I was a kid, I would get on our little box-y black and white mac computer so that I could play Kid Pix, and drag around those digital brushes that would paint different patterns onto a blank canvas. It was so fascinating to me. I was a teenager in high school when I began (wildly... WILDLY) experimenting with Photoshop. I made a fake magazine about the pop-metal and alternative rock bands I was into at the time - complete with multi-page articles and music reviews (written by yours truly) and ads for fake products. All in Photoshop, with roughly 1 MILLION layers (cringe). As an angsty 16 year old, it was my digital masterpiece. In college, I took a few introductory graphic design and pre-press courses where I learned layout softwares like Quark Express and InDesign. I took a digital illustration class which opened my eyes to the complex world of Adobe Illustrator (and the pen tool I dreaded so much) and Corel Painter. It was incredible to me to be able to zoom in 200% and correct such tiny details in a piece of art. It was magic.

Despite all of that early interest, Graphic design was something I came to fairly recently in my life. A few years ago, after growing tired of the less-than-lucrative hustle of freelance and short teaching contracts, I came to Graphic Design in pursuit of a "safety net" during a move to the Big City. I viewed Design as a creative, yet reliable means to support my life and side business as a muralist. It was a practical and deliberate decision, satisfying my Taurus need for some desperately-needed stability. 

Being a Taurus also means I am stubborn, strong-willed and independent. Those traits have been both strengths and weaknesses in my life. Looking back, I think they kept me from pursuing this career as a younger adult. See, my Dad was a Graphic Designer. In college, I didn't even see that path as an option. I wanted to explore a path that was fiercely, uniquely, MINE. I chose my college major quickly, and stuck to it: Illustration with an Emphasis in Animation. I liked the idea of working at a Pixar-type studio, and making character designs and backgrounds (everything BESIDES actually animating, which I soon discovered I did not have the patience or passion for.) After graduating college, I put those plans on hold and joined the Peace Corps.

Peace Corps consumed my life for a good 3+ years. I was only actually living in Madagascar as a Peace Corps Volunteer for a total of 27 months, but a forced evacuation paused my service for 9 months of chilling on my parent's couch. I then went back to complete year 2 of my service. After coming home finally, I found myself reeling mentally and emotionally with the struggle of re-entry to life in the U.S. But I needed cash. Immediately. I went back into food service (sigh). I then worked my way into a sort-of-kind-of-regular job contracting at different K-12 schools, teaching kids art and making murals with them as an Artist-in-Residence, with commissioned mural jobs on the side. I took stock of my career goals and did some deep soul-searching. I reached out to a former professor for advice, and learned I needed to narrow my focus. Trying to keep ALL of the doors open, was preventing me from walking through any of them. I made a pro/con list, and a priority matrix (a tool I learned in Peace Corps. Need to decide something? See p. 43 of this document.) I entered so many interests and options into the matrix: Illustrator, Muralist, Tattoo artist, etc. Graphic Designer? Still not one of them. I decided that being a Muralist was what I really wanted to focus on. That hustle was HARD for me, and I soon realized I could not support myself that way full time, in that size town. So, a move! And then to facilitate that move, a job! What kind of creative job could be so "normal" that I would have it by the time I arrived in the city? Graphic Design finally appeared in a real way. 

I spent a few months refreshing and re-learning design skills and software I hadn't used since college. I watched hours of online tutorials and made myself a little web portfolio. That finally landed me an entry-level design job at a non-profit in Portland. From there I moved into the private sector, and now I've landed in the public sector. Working as an in-house designer has lead me to learn in-depth about industries I never would have otherwise: religious private school, fitness facilities, "green" and "eco" conference and event planning, aviation data sales, and now, criminal justice and community supervision and treatment. I have learned to code a bit, and so many new tools and programs. Graphic Design has lead me places I never would have imagined for myself. And I still have my other love on the side - murals. It's so satisfying to be able to pick up a brush, after days of clicking a mouse. It's the same creative drive - the same language, but a different dialect. 

Now that I'm in my 30's and doing this work, I realize that Design was always something I loved. Like that Taylor Swift song about her unrequited love story. Graphic Design was always there waiting for me, she just needed me to grow up and into myself a little more. Thanks Dad, for the genes. 

My Dad's book of Pantone swatches from the 1970's.
I have it on my desk at work as a reminder of where I came from.

xoxo, Corie

A Portland Map for my Title Company

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone's had a great weekend. Mine was totally packed full - working hard and playing hard. Yesterday, I spent all day mural-ing. Then, drinks with friends and a sublime tribute concert! The best. 

This mural concept began back in October, when I sat over an inch-thick stack of papers, preparing to sign on the dotted line (all of them) to finalize the purchase of my home. I did this through Ticor Title, here in Portland. They were super helpful and awesome, explaining everything patiently. Since the person helping me was looking through my entire financial life, she commented on the fact that I'm a muralist as one of my jobs. She mentioned that Ticor might be interested in a mural, once they moved spaces. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when Ticor reached out to me, hoping I'd still be up for a mural in their new office. STOKED, of course. We went with a big map of Portland neighborhoods for their lobby space. They were excited about a black and white look, with just one color - their branding color of blue, for the rivers running through our city. Their idea is to have homebuyers come in and selfie next to their new neighborhoods, as a marketing strategy. I love that! The even insisted I make note of the fact that I bought my first home with them, directly on the mural, near my signature. It's just such a cool company to want to do something like this. I was really happy to be involved.

The actual act of painting this felt very physical to me. I was totally sweating through this one. I think being on a ladder, and having to keep an extremely steady hand for so long, is what did it. There's not a lot of room for error in an all-typographical mural like this. But I sure liked the meditative quality of making all these damn letters and lines. Super fun, if technically tedious. And also, very different from what I'm usually asked to paint. The graphic designer part of me is at the same time, satisfied and overwhelmed. But overall, I like. More of this, please!

Good night and happy Sunday, friends!

A Hunting Mural for the Whole Fam

Hey everyone!

This mural went in the playroom of a sweet new client family's home. I've come to know them a little bit, and enjoy their energy and their aesthetic. For this mural, they asked for something that would please all of them - the husband, the wife, and the kids. The husband is a hunter, and asked to include an elk with exactly 6 points on his antlers, as well as other elk hunting imagery, like the rubbed off spot on the tree bark (I guess it's a "tell" that elk are near), and the muddy hole/pond that they drink from (or roll in? I forget.) The wife wanted a purple-y moonlit sky. The kids, well, they got a cool thing to look at in their awesome playroom. The owl mural I made a few weeks ago, is on the wall across from this one. We're still going to add at least one of two more little vignettes in this room. Should be a super cool space when it's done. Ahhhhh I just love pacific-northwest-ys and our need for bringing nature into the home, in all the various forms. Maybe that's just a universal thing though, nature. Either way, it makes this tree-hugging muralist happy. 

 

Summer Throw-back Projects

Hi Everyone!

Happy new year!! Happy to be in 2017. 2016 was intense and sad in so many ways for the world. The orlando shooting rocked me pretty hard, as did Prince and Bowie's deaths, as did the election results, and I could go on, but I won't. It's been quite a mess of a year in a lot of ways, and the resulting stress and sadness for the world can get overwhelming. But when I narrow down to my own little life, I must say, 2016 has been overwhelmingly wonderful. The big things are pretty obvious - house + fiance + new day (non mural) job, which I start tomorrow....eeee! Those are some big ol' wonderful changes, and I am extremely grateful for all of them. But again, to jump on the bandwagon, yay 2017. Wishing all of you the best of the best for this coming year.

As I gear up for some wintertime painting, I'm realizing that I still haven't posted about all the Summer/fall painting, so thought I would do a bit of catching up today. Here are a couple I missed:

This first commission was about honoring a loved one who passed away. I won't get into details, but all the elements you see here were chosen specifically to combine into a large piece in memory of someone. It's commissions like this, that are deeply customized and therefore deeply personal and meaningful, that in turn give me the most satisfaction to paint for people. These kinds of commissions are about more than beauty. They are about visually representing a feeling for someone. I hope it brings my client a little bit of peace.

On the technical side of this one, I very much enjoyed the challenge of creating a design on three separate, long panels.  Each panel was a different idea, and needed to stand on it's own, but at the same time, go with the others. Super fun and challenging.

The mural, hung in it's final spot at my client's home. Much better picture quality than the first two!

The second project I failed to post, is a bit more lighthearted. This was a commission for a friend's new baby. Cue the awwwwwwwww for this first pic: Cutest tiny satisfied mini-client!

I'm so happy to have been able to help these sweet new parents settle into their new house. I loved this little Pooh and Piglet scene idea, and the quote that they chose from "The Tao of Pooh." So perfect for a little boo's room. And so much fun to paint! I am always all about painting back-lit leaves. Juicy. YES.

New year's resolution: post these thingies as I go! Yeesh!

My Home is Portland Oregon

You guys. It has been an embarassingly long time since I've posted a blog. It's preeeetty bad.

But a lot has happened over the last couple months! Here's what I've been up to:

Bought a house:

P.s. this is pic is from my instagram which you can follow here: @talkingwallsmurals  #notsosubtleplug

Got engaged:

We look like zombies because we were dancing at the annual Thrill the World event - an event where people all over the world dance simultaneously to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and raise money for charity. Don't worry about it. My fiance knows me well and knows that I could not have been more into having fake blood dripping down my face while he asked me to marry him. Quirky, and so, so perfect for us. I am so happy!! 

So yeah, house projects and wedding planning madness occupies time. But now, I'm going to share a mural with you because that is primarily what this blog is about. I did another Portland-themed mural! This one is in the lobby of an apartment complex in NW Portland. It was super fun! Subject matter that I am super familiar with by now, but it's always fun to come up with fresh ways of doing it. And I actually really really love painting Mt. Hood. It takes my breath away even still, to come around a corner on a clear day and see Hood looking down over our beautiful city.

Also, on a nerdy note, the surface I painted this mural on was unlike any wall I've ever worked on. It was like there was a cloth-like surface treatment over the wall board. Pretty old building, so I'm not sure what it actually was, but it felt like painting on a canvas board. I was so into it. I want that on every wall! Anyway, here are the pics: (Not my best work as a mural-photographer though... there were windows behind me so the light is shining very strangely over the mural. I'll go back at some point to take better ones. But you get the idea.)

 

A Love Letter to Portland

Hi everyone!

I just finished this big retaining wall mural for an apartment complex in Northwest Portland. I’ve worked with this client before, but was still sort of awed when they said: “what’s YOUR vision for this wall?” and then accepted the first sketch I made. It’s pretty amazing and extremely rare to have a client give me full creative freedom to make a sketch. It’s even more amazing and rare to have that sketch accepted, just as I created it. Usually, my clients come to me with an idea – anywhere from very specific imagery, colors, etc., to having a vague theme to work with. But this time, I just got to go for it. To be fair though, I did keep my audience in mind, and wasn’t about to go totally out of control weird with it either. Afterall, this wall is in a residential neighborhood, and I wanted to make sure it would appeal to at least most folks living there.

The theme is sort of a love letter to Portland. I love how we can live an urban lifestyle in the city, and in 20 minutes, be in the country or in the middle of a forest. We can be on the coast OR the mountains in a little over an hour. It’s an exceptionally awesome place to live, in that way. I organized this feeling into a loooong, short wall. On the right, we’ve got a night scene of the Portland skyline, with street lamps, owls, stars, and a bridge (duh.) As we move left, we see the city transition into natural landscape, and more daytime light and colors. I love this city, and I hope that comes across and is relatable to the people who walk by this wall, or see it every day when they are almost home. Beautiful, magical, weird, Portland.