After more than two months without painting a mural, I was itching to
get started on a new wall. There’s never a shortage of walls here in Guatemala, but
finding financing is another story. The places I paint most of my murals at are
usual schools or NGO’s that can barely survive, let alone afford a mural, as
much as it is appreciated. So that’s why I’m always looking for people or
institutions willing to sponsor a mural. I was lucky to find one for Brillo de Sol, an educational project in
San Gaspar Vivar, on the outskirts of Antigua
Guatemala. I’ve totally fallen in love with this project;
it’s amazing to see all kinds of special needs children receive specialized
education, but above all much love and attention. So I was thrilled to be able to
start this mural, hopefully the first of many more to come.
When you visit Brillo de Sol,
the first to greet you is probably Luna, the adopted dog and mascot of the
school. Besides being a lovable presence, thanks to Luna the children learn
about responsibility (they take turns feeding her) and how to take care of
animals. Being a dog lover myself, it made sense that Luna would have to appear
in the first mural, in the stairway leading to the second floor. Another model
was quickly found on the Facebook page of Brillo
de Sol: the cute little girl (Marcela) holding a rabbit was irresistible.
I found Luna willing to pose for some photos during my last visit to Brillo de Sol and I combined her picture
with Marcela’s in a design I made in Photoshop. Then it was time to get the
painting started, not an easy job since the wall was no less than 6.05 meters
high. Fortunately enough I had help! Jerke Monu, a Belgian teacher in training
is going to start his internship art Brillo
de Sol in a few weeks and was willing to help me out. While I started the
grid and copied the design, Jerke had the ungrateful job to balance on a
rickety old ladder, painting the background from top to bottom with a roller
attached to a long piece of PVC tube. Not ideal, quite scary actually, but it
worked! Once the design was drawn and the background filled in, the rest was pure
fun and within two days we were done. The kids and staff love it and are
looking forward to the next murals. Since every class has its own name, the
plan is to give them each their own mural. Next up are Los Gatitos (The Kittens). So yes, more sponsors are always needed!
Many thanks to Ilene Kradin for sponsoring this mural, Marcela and Luna
for modeling, the staff at Brillo de Sol
for all the support and of course Jerke for the hard work!
Sketching |
Jerke doing his magic |
Jerke in front of the result |
And this is it! 2.85 x 6.05m |