No Going Back!
The design has been drawn, altered and redrawn many times. The artists have spent many hours making gorgeous individual paintings. Once glued to the boards they will NOT be removable. That terrifying/exhilarating moment has arrived!
Happy to say that, having begun the process, Mike is more exhilarated than terrified. The die is cast!
Cutting paintings is another heart stopper! Here you have two boards with Andy Smith’s beautiful painting of Westford going across them. Mike had to glue that on and then cut through it 😬!
The next step is also a bit nerve wracking initially. Painting over the edges of other peoples gorgeous paintings takes some getting used to, but each item needs to be integrated into the larger whole, and the end result is so good!
Visual art makers tend to be an introverted, solitary bunch, so it has been surprising and delightful to see how well the 15 or so artists who have contributed to the interior of the mural have worked collaboratively, with Mike’s drawings and with assisting on each other’s paintings.
With just 9 days to finish, Sunday was a beehive of activity 🐝
Mike told Andrew Gilmore (CCHS student) how to paint over the border of Chris Price’s painting of Carlisle, while Susan Ward worked on repairing lettering that had smeared when the painting was glued down.
Brittany Norton works on integrating the paintings to the background.
Andrew is enjoying the process!
Fran Strom added the wording to Nancy Ame’s painting of Sudbury.
A huge thank you here to the many talented, community-minded, collaborative art makers, both mentioned and unmentioned! It is a joy to work with you.
