{June 2019} The Grid System
June 2019
Hot Springs, Arkansas
On our way to Houston, Tyler and I had passed through Hot Springs, Arkansas and fell in love with the place. It truly was so beautiful, and I had decided to make it my next state. I searched for places to paint upon arrival. There were a few places that caught my eye including a wax museum, and a few shops downtown, but my very first choice was the petting zoo/ alligator farm! The building had been around since 1902! I try to find places that have been around a long time to ensure my mural will stick around a long time as well. When I arrived in the lobby, the man at the front desk told me the owner was out, but might be back in the next day. Just as I was handing him my card saying I would be back later, the owner pulled up! Perfect Timing! His name was Jaime and I told him all about my mural tour and showed him examples of my work that I carry around in a binder. He took me outside and showed me a long cinderblock wall he wanted painted. I gulped. It was a really big wall, bigger than anything I had painted before. The location was perfect though as it received plenty of traffic from passing cars. Jaime said I could paint whatever I wanted so I mocked up a concept that night that consisted of brightly colored animals, flowers, and peacock feathers. Him and his wife both loved it! The wall needed a lot of prep work. It had about four layers of chipped and peeling paint that had accumulated over the years. It needed to be power washed, (twice) scraped, and primed.
During this time I was prepping the wall, I visited a small gallery downtown in hopes of selling my art there. Turns out the gallery was for Arkansas artists only, but the owner John pointed me in the direction of Mary Zuneck, the head boss lady of the art community in Hot Springs. Apparently I had skipped into town right before their big Arts in the Park festival. I spoke to Mary about setting up and they were willing to let me join last minute and even let me borrow a tent. Sometimes all you gotta do is ask!! While I was at Mary's office working out the details, I ran in to Guiseppe, an Italian artist responsible for all the major murals in the city. He is a beast and can paint large buildings in a couple weeks time. He offered to help me learn the grid system which is a way that mural artists transfer images on paper to large scale renderings. It involves some math and I knew what it was but I needed someone to sit down and actually show me how to do it. I knew that all the greatest mural artists used this technique and was excited to learn. He taught me a lot about the metric system and why it makes more sense, especially for projects like this. Finally I was ready to transfer my image to the wall, or so I thought. I spent five hours in the sun measuring blocks for my grid, only to discover I was way off and had wasted the whole day! I was so upset but I knew if I got some rest I could do better the next day. I was right. The next day I tackled the grid with a fresh attitude and was able to lay out my image without any more trouble.
Arts in the park came up quickly, and I was almost regretting my decision to take on so much at one time, except it worked out well because I met local videographer John Cooksey at the event. I knew about him from seeing his broadcast on Facebook and when I told him about my project, he wanted to have me on the show! He also offered to let me stay at his air bnb while I was painting the mural. This couldn't have come at a more perfect time as I was starting to experience some health issues. A combination of stress, dehydration, and poor nutrition left me feeling very sick. I was very low on potassium and several blood and hair tests revealed that I was deficient in some essential minerals that are important for proper thyroid function. Iron, Maganese, Selenium, and B12 to name a few. I was experiencing many symptoms such as nausea, loss of appetite, chills, severe constipation, fatigue, and even loss 15 pounds in 2 weeks. After three ER visits, the mural was the last thing on my mind, but I had to finish. I have been open with my eating disorder to you guys in the past and I often have a list of foods I carry in my mind that I consider "bad." Even healthy foods like nuts and avocados I wouldn't eat because they made me feel too full and I thought I would gain weight if I ate them. This is something I have been working on getting better with, but my experience in Arkansas really opened my eyes to how much I was actually restricting. When I feel stressed, I restrict. It seems to be how I've always dealt with stress, and it's something that has almost cost me my health on several occasions both mentally and physically. I am doing much better after including eggs and fish back in my diet to get my B12 levels up and may return to the vegan diet at a later date, but for now, I am feeling good. I was able to finish the mural with the love an support of all the friends I made in Hot Springs.
Dawna Jean who is the most beautiful and generous person I have ever met, helped me so much by lifting my spirits and always inviting me to do fun things. She kept my chin up when I needed someone the most and tears come to my eyes as I write this, simply for the gratitude that I feel toward that woman. Jan, a beautiful artist who bought art from me in need of some inspiration who opened up to me about some insecurities she was dealing with. Insecurities that we ALL deal with and in the process of reminding her that she is enough as she is, reminded myself as well. Lacey Rainbow for having me on her radio show to promote the mural. John Cooksey and his amazing family for taking me in and giving me love when I felt my worst. If I had not had a place to stay during that time, I don't know how I would have finished the mural. Marc, who also bought art from me and came to visit me frequently while I painted bringing me snacks and water. Justin, a local artist who also kept me company while I painted. John, the owner of Whittington Gallery who let me sell prints at his shop during gallery walk for extra gas money and who introduced me to the entire art community in Hot Springs. These are just a few of the people that I met and that touched me in some way. Hot Springs will always have a special place in my heart and I will always remember the month I spent there and the lessons I learned. Balance is the key to success.
If you would like to see my interview on the Hot Springs Broadcast Network, you can find that here:
