For Sale! Van Gogh’s Starry Night for only $250!

Current wall (Left) and with the design projected on it (Right)

Today I visited the Brillo de Sol educational centre where I recently painted two murals on a completely unrelated business when I ran into director Letty López. We talked about the next mural on our wish list, one of the Universe, name of the group of first graders. I suggested we’d start looking for pretty pictures of a nice tranquil Universe that would calm the kids down rather than excite them. So no black hole with blood red planets and ARC-170 Starfighters, but something a little bit more peaceful, maybe with fifty shades of blue or so.

I was just about to hop on my bicycle on my way out when the first grade teacher came running after me. She showed me a picture of a sky she liked very much and asked whether I thought it would look could on the wall. Are you kidding??? She showed me one of my very favourite paintings of one of my very favourite artists, The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh!!!! OF COURSE that would look good on the wall! Maybe technically not the Universe, but close enough. Now, that would be a fun project!

So the wall is there, the design was already made in 1889, I’m ready to go and I even have help: I can count on, the lovely Sofie van den Bril from Belgium. The only thing missing is some cash towards paint, prints, primer and transportation.

So… looking for a sponsor who for only $250 will be the proud “owner” of a “real” Van Gogh on a wall (2.6 x 3.8 meters) in Guatemala… (Partial donations welcome too!) And that is a bargain, considering what the original would go for these days…

Coming Soon: Mega Mural in Chimachoy!!!

Part of the soon to be painted wall

If you paint murals for a living, you tend to look at walls before anything else. So when I visited the Maya Kaqchikel community of Chimachoy for the first time, it wasn’t the splendid view of the volcano or the women in their brilliant traditional dresses I noticed first, but the ugly cinder block wall leading into the village…If only…

A few months ago I was surfing the web looking for possible sponsors when I found The Pollination Project. Not only did I instantly like the organization and its objectives, it happened that for once, as a small grassroots project in Guatemala run by a foreigner, I was able to apply! The Pollination Project was very honest in stating that it can only reward a small number of all proposals they receive and that it really helps if you have a reference from one of the organization they work with, which I didn’t. So I didn’t have much hope, but was getting excited anyway while writing my proposal and my project getting shape.

Three weeks ago I received the exciting news I was rewarded a $1000 grant! The next day I immediately signed the contract and wrote to Laura, director of the high school in Chimachoy, whom I hadn’t notified about the project yet, as up until then I had no funding and I hate promising something I might not be able to fulfill. Luckily, Laura was as enthusiastic as I am and -unbelievably- within 48 hours I had all the necessary permits, the collaboration of the teachers and students of both schools and the local citizens’ committee. Laura also talked to the mayor and he promised to provide his stonemason for preparing and stuccoing the wall. We’re about to get started!

Within the next few weeks I’ll go to Chimachoy to talk to all people involved, pay for the supplies to plaster the wall and conduct my first introductory workshops for the students of both schools. After a general introduction about the history of muralism and its significance, we’ll be exploring local culture through a series of art, journalism, photography and storytelling in the next few months. The children of the elementary school will determine the theme of each section of the wall (a cultural element of the community), which will be investigated deeper with the students of the high school. Then the students will express all different aspects of their own culture through photography in a week long project directed by Dutch photographer /teacher Sabrina Gaudio. The results of those workshops will be the base for the final design. And then it’s time to get the painting started! We’ll first prime the wall with the help of the younger kids. The older students will then apply a grid in chalk and copy the design before the real work can begin. When exactly is hard to say, it all depends on what the weather will be like, but by the beginning of September I hope to have the whole 75 meter long wall finished for a grand inauguration.

I’m incredibly grateful to The Pollination Project for rewarding me this grant and am looking forward to working with this organization! $1000 is a lot of money and we can get the work started, but in order to conduct all the workshops I’ll need more donations. The more money, the more workshops, the deeper the impact of this project in the community. In order to develop all the activities planned, I figure I’ll need a budget of $2250. Since the wall is 75 x 3 = 225m², that comes down to only $10 per square meter, which is a bargain, don’t you think? So the first 100 square meters are sponsored, looking for 1250 more! So if you want to sponsor a square meter or more, please donate through the Paypal button on this page or contact me at carinsteen@yahoo.com for additional bank info. More news will follow soon!

Behind the Scenes: Painting Kittens and Lots of Lines

Note to self: No more designs with lines on the background! I knew it was going to be a pain in the butt because I’ve done it before, so what was I thinking…. It looks cute, yes, and it’s a good way to paint a partial wall, but on this particular surface with its crumbly texture each line took me almost an hour to finish and there are 15 of those, so that’s a lot of line painting. (And no, masking tape was no option.) They turned out not even that straight! (The walls fault of course, not my painting abilities!).

And after painting many a dog, I didn’t think that four kittens would be a big deal, but they took me much longer than expected. Why? I guess because they are much smaller (just a little taller than my friend Judy) than the figures I usually paint, because of the space’s requirements. The mural is located in a corridor where people pass right by. There is no space to step back and take the painting in as a whole, so too big a design won’t work. Typically a restricted space requires smaller and more detailed images that take longer to paint. That answers the frequently asked question why I generally charge more for a “regular” painting to be framed and hung in the living room than a much bigger mural.

I must admit I’m so naive to think that after having painted dozens of murals I’ll never get surprised, but of course I’m proven wrong each and every time (and I guess that’s one of the reasons I like creating murals so much). This time I thought it would be an easy one, done in two days, not even needing a ladder, but it didn’t work out that way. Not just because of the lines and details but also because it wasn’t easy working with the adorable Kittens (the human variety that occupy the classroom) running around or hanging from my neck, as adorable and inspiring as they are. I even learned to say “cat” in sign language” (Thanks Abner!) and the adorable Melanie was happy to see me back the second day, telling me grammatically incorrectly but very poetically: I saw you tomorrow!

Anyway, mission accomplished, the Gatitos are happy with there kittens on the wall and that’s what matters most. Ready for the next one! The Universe is on our wish list, we only need to find a sponsor and we’re ready to continue! (We only need another $250!)

Thanks a million to my good friends Suzanne and Cita van der Linden who never ever forget about these whereabouts and are always willing to help, this time generously sponsoring the kittens’ mural. Also thanks the staff of Brillo de Sol and of course those kittens in kindergarten.

Los Gatitos mural painted outside the kindergarten classroom at Brill de Sol; San Gaspar Vivar, Antigua Guatemala. 6.5 x 1.6m. March 2016

For more information about Brillo de Sol: www.brillodesol.org

(Foto by Letty López)

(Foto by Letty López)

(Foto by Letty López)

Mural #1 in Brillo de Sol done!

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!

For more information about Brillo de Sol: www.brillodesol.org

The Design

Sketching

Jerke doing his magic

Jerke in front of the result

And this is it! 2.85 x 6.05m

Sponsor found!

A sponsor for the first mural at Brillo de Sol has been found! This cute girl with her rabbit, a student of Brillo de Sol (the girl, not the rabbit) and the institution’s loyal dog Luna will be up on the wall in a month or so (as soon as the check has cleared). More walls are looking for sponsors!

Thanks so much, Ilene Kradin for sponsoring this one!

New Mural Projects for 2016

And the quest continues!!!! There’re plenty of walls here in Guatemala waiting to be transformed from plain cement into an inspiring and uplifting environment.

For as little as $250 you can sponsor a classroom’s outer wall at the Educational Centre Brillo de Sol, painted by theme. Partial donations are welcome too!

Five murals to start the year at Brillo de Sol would be great, but I’m thinking even bigger. On my wish list for this year is the outer wall of the elementary school in Chimachoy, right at the entrance of this small Kaqchikel community and right across from the high school. The wall is badly in need of repairs and will need to be plastered first. It measures about 75 x 3 meters which is bigger than I’ve ever done. I plan to paint this one in close collaboration with students of both the elementary and secondary school. I have to work out the details, but it looks like this one is going to cost at least $ 2,000. Again, partial donations are welcome too!

Walls Looking for Sponors

Brillo de Sol (San Gaspar) is one of my favourite projects in Antigua Guatemala. It’s a special school for special children. Many of the students come from extreme poverty and are excluded from regular education because of their physical disabilities or behavioural problems. Some of the students are in a wheelchair; others are blind or deaf, some have Aspergers Syndrome or are autistic. In Brillo de Sol, everybody is welcome and inclusion is key. The students are divided by age and each classroom has its own name such as “Universe”, “Ocean”, “Bees” or “Stars”. I’d love to paint some great murals in this school that won’t only transform the building, but are also educational. So… looking for sponsors! I hope to complete a series of 5 murals in the next few months. Each mural only costs $250. Partial donations are also very welcome!
Let’s colour the world!
For more information about the project: www.brilldesol.org.