We want to give a HUGE shout out to Mallory Battista. We had seen pictures of some of Mallory’s art and reached out to her about the possibility of doing a mural for us. We weren’t 100% sure of what we wanted exactly so we gave her a theme and let her run with it. She designed it from start to finish adding a few personal touches that had a lot of meaning to our family. Her design was off the hook amazing. Her execution of the mural far exceeded our expectations. It’s amazing what Mallory can do with a can of spray paint! If anyone out there is looking to have some amazing artwork added to their home, do yourself a favor and reach out to Mallory. You won’t be sorry!!!
Working with the Rands on their poolside mural was a wonderful experience. They were leaning toward some type of ocean scene, and after some thought I suggested that the main focus be a giant octopus. I find octopus to be fascinating, mischievous, and whimsical and thought it would fill the long horizontal space nicely. The Rands requested a handful of details, beginning with having the octopus hold a Pabst beer can in one of its tentacles and the inclusion of both a 10-legged starfish they once saw on vacation and a praying mantis, the latter of which has significant personal meaning for them. After discussing these details, I moved onto creating my digital mock up of the mural to work out the general composition and color selection.
After reviewing the digital mock up, the Rands requested a few more fish and a jellyfish, which were nice additions to the design. Up to two rounds of minor changes to the mock up are included in my mural process so that we can work out any changes before paint is even purchased.
Revised digital mock up.
I love how this mural incorporated so many meaningful elements for the clients and how the bubbles tie all the elements together and add to the sort of surreal combination. The Rands had a last minute request as I painted that I add some petunias near the stairs, another symbol with personal meaning for them, which I was able to accommodate. I always caution that the finished mural is not going to be exactly like the mock up, but I think that this one really stayed true to the flavor of the mock up.
Mural completed on 7/13/20.
Posted by Mallory on July 22, 2020