Up on a Scaffolding: The Story Behind the Greek Mythology Mural at Opa in Wilmington, NC

The Scaffolding at Opa

I'll start by saying that I couldn't ask for a better site - on the riverfront in Wilmington just a few blocks from the  historic district - or a better blank canvas - a 25' by 50' white wall.    The view from the floor to ceiling windows couldn't be beat - the Cape fear river below, the port city marina full of sailboats and yachts to the right.  Not too shabby.  I felt fortunate for the opportunity as always.  

The space to be transformed had previously been home to a tequila and comida cantina, with bold shades of paint on the walls, skulls, etc.  Now all was painted white. It's nice to start with a blank palette. 

 I've worked for many years with this particular client and have the utmost respect for his unerring artistic vision  Over the prior months, he shared his creative ideas, inspirational images, and provided artistic direction which helped me to develop a design narrative. After providing a number of draft mock-ups, we settled on a design based on Greek mythology inspired by the art found on ancient pottery and frescoes.  The color palette would be classic - a deep greek blue, a terra cotta red-orange, and gold.

When I first saw the wall that I would paint during the first phase of this project, I might have gasped.  It was so very big. I wondered out loud how I would get up to the top?  I discussed options with the GM.  It may have been my imagination, but he seemed to question my ability to safely maneuver a motorized scissor lift around the newly installed and quite expensive marble encased  hostess stand and booths.  I'm not sure I can blame him after I mentioned I'd have to be careful not to "bump into things".  The fact that I have used  lifts on most of my recent jobs had apparently not been conveyed 

The GM decided scaffolding would be the safest choice. Scaffolding is almost never my top choice.  It is rarely at the appropriate level,  not easily adjusted, requires a lot of climbing and a comfort with heights, and there are big metal crossbars in the way.  I have learned over the years, if you are not able to easily maneuver your platform, you will find yourself holding your arm at less than ideal angles, craning your next or reaching which all ends with a sore neck, strained muscles, and a bad back. 

All that being said, it didn't seem like a motorized lift could have reached all of the areas above the stairway and be maneuvered around all of the obstacles.  I left Wilmington to return weeks later to do the work.

The View from the Top

After a last minute rescheduling due to a complicated choreography involving electricians, plumbers, tile artists, etc., I walked into the site and beheld the scaffolding.  It was certainly a feat of engineering, stable and sturdy.  However, I noticed right away, there were areas I couldn't reach.  I would eventually need platforms moved and the use of ladders as well.   

It was time to start sketching out the basic design. I don't typically use a projector, Meta Quest headgear, or other tools to transfer the image onto the surface.  I use my inherent sense of scale and proportion on smaller murals and a basic grid system on larger murals, but part of this process involves stepping back frequently from the murals to get a sense of whether everything is properly proportioned and coming together.  It's critical.  

With this project, stepping back for a view of the whole was physically difficult and time consuming, To "step back" required climbing down ladders from 25 feet up.  Aside form that, I had to bring all of my paints and supplies up ladders from one level to the next.  There were also poles and platforms in the way that I had to work around.

Let me tell you, the first, second, and third time I climbed up that 25 ladder to the top level, I was terrified - hanging on for dear life, moving as slowly as a snail.  By the end of the week I was scrambling up and down like a trapeze artist - a comfort with danger that comes from familiarity and repetition.  I had to keep reminding myself not to become complacent.   

The View of the Marina from the Scaffolding

Every once in a while I'd step outside to watch the sun sparkling on the water, to hear the water lapping against the boat hulls, and the sound of seagulls to recharge my batteries.  Lunch was usually a can of tuna salad on crackers ate rapidly sitting on the top level of my scaffolding  overlooking the marina, swinging my legs in time to the beat in my earbuds. .  From the large windows, I watched storms clouds approaching, building and darkening the sky. 

Meanwhile below me the contractors ran around like ants, installing light fixtures, spreading grout, cutting tile, sweeping debris, while the GM kept a careful eye on all, arms crossed firmly, serious expression.  I began by chalking out a basic grid with chalk water soluble marking crayon,  climbing up and down and all around to access all sections of the wall.  Then I sketched out the basic shapes using an image on my iPad for reference.  

Frugality and good time management are essential when working out of town.  I work long hours to cut down on travel expenses and the costs of accommodations, meals, etc.  Also I'd always much rather sleep in my own bed, so I do my best to limit the number of nights I'm away.  After many hours of scrambling around the scaffolding,  I made my way to a nearby hotel to check in.  That night, I dropped off to sleep quickly in exhaustion. only to wake in the pitch dark in the middle of the night feeling like I was trapped in a cage with metal bars all around me. My mind was still apparently imagining the scaffolding bars surrounding me.  

The next morning, feeling decently rested, I couldn't wait to get back to work. Each day I painted, particularly on the exterior mural where I was surrounded by apartment buildings with many, many windows overlooking the site, I was quite aware of the onlookers and spectators interested in my work.  It took me years to become comfortable with painting in front of an audience,  

It's always this way, but on a large scale project like this, it's all the more intimidating and nerve-racking when I paint a huge face of a a god, climb down two sets of ladders, cross the floor, turn around and find that the nose is too big, or the eyes are slightly crooked and need to be corrected. I'm certainly not perfect, and I do make mistakes.  It's difficult having the mistakes seen by others before I have time to correct them.   I have learned to put in my earbuds, turn up the volume, and tune out the outside world.  

After painting the upper area of the wall, I had to ask the GM and a couple of helpers to move the entire top platform down, so I could reach another area.  This was not an easy endeavor and scary for me to watch.

To make a long story short, I did finish the mural in five and a half days. When I stand back and look at the finished mural...there are three things I'm thinking about...I'm so grateful that I was given this opportunity, I hope the patrons of the restaurant will derive pleasure from seeing it, and I hope my client is pleased.  I've listed the pros and cons of using a stationary scaffolding on a mural job below. You can watch the time lapse of the project here.  Follow along with future projects on my Instagram at #designsbyarianne.

Downsides of scaffolding for mural work:

• Difficult to reposition once installed
• Crossbars and platforms are tricky to paint around and prevent full viewing of the mural before removal
• Requires physical exertion and stamina for climbing
• Costly to install but possibly less than scissor lift rental
• Not for those with fear of heights
• Inability to precisely shift your level to avoid muscle fatigue and strain
• Necessitates  carrying all supplies including cans of paint up ladders to levels

Upsides to using scaffolding for a mural job: 

• Sturdy (if properly installed)
• Does not require moving ladders and other equipment if levels are properly spaced (which mine were not)
• No risk of running motorized  equipment into walls, light fixtures, etc and causing costly repairs
• May be less costly than the rental of motorized equipment

In conclusion, I would much rather use a motorized lift any day of the week than a scaffolding.

You can see my mural work in person and enjoy the delicious cuisine and top-notch hospitality of this new restaurant by Giorgio Bakatsias when Opa opens in October.  

The Finished Mural

If you enjoyed this post, consider purchasing my books, Solo Car Camping Across America, An Adventure in Courage, Solitude, and Questionable Bathrooms in America’s Most Beautiful Places, available on Amazon Books.  235 pages with full color images. Itinerary, packing list, helpful tips, and do’s and don’ts included.  Free shipping for Amazon Prime members.  Kindle edition also available. 

  

 

Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.  

“Every New Beginning Comes from Some Other Beginning's End”

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end” - from the song, "Closing Time" (1998) written by Dan Wilson of the band Semisonic

On a run on a familiar trail,  I noticed a tiny sapling growing from the top of a stump of what once had been a sizable evergreen. Over the years, several devastating tropical storms had decimated portions of this park, toppling trees that had stood for decades. When the winds settled and the rains passed, the park crew went to work with chainsaws and dozers, clearing what remained of this majestic pine. The stump is now a tabletop for squirrels munching on acorns and apparently a stage for new growth.   

Over time enough dirt and decaying matter seems to have gathered in the cracks between the tree rings to allow for a seed to take root, and a pine sapling was born.  It's a nice example of the circle of life - the new growth arising directly on and from the remains of the life that ended.  You might say, "every new beginning comes from another beginning's end" as in the lyrics of the Semisonic song, "Closing Time".  

If you find yourself facing the aftermath of a figurative storm in your life, gather the dirt and
rain in the cracks, look towards the sun, and believe that growth will begin to happen if you just allow it.  You will be standing tall again before long.  

- Arianne

If you enjoyed this post, consider purchasing my books, Solo Car Camping Across America, An Adventure in Courage, Solitude, and Questionable Bathrooms in America’s Most Beautiful Places, available on Amazon Books.  235 pages with full color images. Itinerary, packing list, helpful tips, and do’s and don’ts included.  Free shipping for Amazon Prime members.  Kindle edition also available. 

  

 

Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.  

Painting Murals in All Conditions

Painting in the Dark at Levant in Raleigh

Back when postal carriers delivered mail door to door there was a commonly known phrase that summed up their  determination. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” - (unofficial motto often attributed to the USPS). Would you believe there are times when the same words can be applied to the mural artist?

The truth is that painting murals is physically demanding and can require long hours in all conditions. The project schedule often requires the coordination of various contractors, so I may work several 12+ hour days in a row. That’s a lot of hours on your feet, so proper running shoes are a must.   I may be sweating away in the heat and humidity of summer or losing feeling in my toes during the cold of winter painting an exterior mural. I may find myself on a job site without functional air conditioning or heat. Lighting may be inadequate or completely absent.  There may be chaos and noise from contractors, an audience of onlookers and passersby, bees and other biting insects, and heights that requires scary climbs on scaffolding and ladders.   

On my most recent job in Wilmington, NC, we were under an extreme heat advisory all week with “feels like” temperatures over 100 degrees.   Due to a tight construction schedule and a quickly approaching opening date, I couldn’t postpone in hopes of lower temperatures.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so hot and uncomfortable.  I gulped liters of gatorade, doused my hat in cold water every twenty minutes, and was forced to take frequent breaks.  Passersby would say that I picked the wrong week to work.  No kidding. If it were up to me, I’d have picked October rather than August.  

While I’m complaining, I don’t want to forget to mention the almost complete lack of shade or protection from the unrelenting rays of the sun and the swarms of mosquitoes that attacked at dawn and dusk. I was sunburned, sore, exhausted and covered in bites at the end of the week, but I did get that job done on time. The client had an expectation, and I didn’t want to disappoint.  If I say I’ll do it, I’ll do it!

In spite of some of the images posted by various muralists on social media, the work is often not glamorous.  You won’t see many selfies of me, because I’m usually wearing paint-spattered old t-shirts, a faded baseball cap, and didn’t bother with make-up.  Well, truth be told, I simply don’t really like selfies anyway.   Even with all of that being said, there’s almost nothing I’d rather be doing. When I am painting, time stops and worries fade away.  I’m filled with a pleasant emptiness while all of my focus goes into the project.  I really believe artwork helps to enliven spaces and add to the experience the owner is trying to create. If someone sees my work and it makes them feel happy or inspired, then that is an extra bonus. I feel so grateful and fortunate to have the work.

-Arianne

Sky High Mural Scaffolding at Opa in Wilmington, NC

 If you enjoyed this post, consider purchasing my books, Solo Car Camping Across America, An Adventure in Courage, Solitude, and Questionable Bathrooms in America’s Most Beautiful Places, available on Amazon Books.  235 pages with full color images. Itinerary, packing list, helpful tips, and do’s and don’ts included.  Free shipping for Amazon Prime members.  Kindle edition also available. 

 

  

Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.  

Pressing the Okay Button with the Help of Norman Vincent Peale

 

"Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.”

"What the mind profoundly expects it tends to receive.”

"When things do not go your way, remember that every challenge — every adversity — contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth.” - all quotes from The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

Recently I was having a bad day.  I was dealing with a situation outside of my control which was causing a lot of apprehension. While driving down the road, I found myself mindlessly rubbing a button on my steering wheel.  I realized that I did this quite often while driving.  The action seemed to offer a degree of comfort.  This was the first time I noticed that the button said “OK".  

For my particular car make and model the “OK" button is pressed to dismiss warning alerts and to access and select further options. If you “long press” it, you can reset.   In essence, press the button to say "I'm okay with that".  Wouldn’t that be something if pressing the OK button in my car would magically make me feel okay like rubbing a magic lantern?  What if it was that easy?  What if I sinply entertained the idea that such a thing was possible.  Could it affect my day positively.  I supposed it might.

I am someone who loves the idea of the power of positive thinking.  On my bedside table, you will find Norman Vincent Peale’s book by that exact title: The Power of Positive Thinking.  My journal is titled “Think Happy Thoughts”.  Does it work?  I don’t know.  

What I do know is that optimism tends to make me expect good outcomes and act differently with the goal of achieving them.  I do know that on days where I apply all of my positive thinking tools, I experience greater happiness and more hope.  So I guess I’ll continue applying Mr. Peale’s principles, and every once in a while I’m going to press that OK button in my car and see what happens.  

- Arianne

Purveyor of Positivity

 If you enjoyed this post, consider purchasing my books, Solo Car Camping Across America, An Adventure in Courage, Solitude, and Questionable Bathrooms in America’s Most Beautiful Places, available on Amazon Books.  235 pages with full color images. Itinerary, packing list, helpful tips, and do’s and don’ts included.  Free shipping for Amazon Prime members.  Kindle edition also available. 

 

  

Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.  

Something Beautiful Everyday: The Fogbow

“It takes sunshine and rain to make a rainbow. There would be no rainbows without sunshine and rain.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

This morning at dawn, I ran along the ocean on a barrier island near my house just as I have almost every day for the past year.  There’s only two directions to go in - to the right or to the left.  You might think it would be tedious to travel the same route every day.  In fact, If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said the prospect sounded limiting and boring, but there aren’t a lot of options in the area.  

After traveling the same route hundreds of times, I’ve learned that the beach, ocean, and sky never look the same from one day to the next. 

Each morning, I set out with an intention of seeing something wondrous, and this wish is almost always fulfilled.  Why?  Because I set an expectation.  Because I am actively aware and curiously looking for wonder.  Because the world is full of remarkable animals, plants, people and phenomena.  

This morning a dense blanket of fog crept in from the ocean obscuring the distant horizon and creating a mystical atmosphere. As the heat of the rising sun began to burn off the cloud cover a double white rainbow formed before me arching from the ocean to the first row of houses on the beach.  According to Wikipedia, “A fog bow, sometimes called a white rainbow,^] is a phenomenon similar to a rainbow; however, as its name suggests, it appears as a bow in fog rather than rain." 

I was in awe. I tried to run to the place where it appeared to emerge from the ocean, but of course I could never quite get there.  The fogbow remained out of reach.  

People often ask me how I happen to see so many interesting things, and I say…

because I am out there, and I am looking.  Try it. 

Fog Bow on the Beach

If you enjoyed this post, consider purchasing my books, Solo Car Camping Across America, An Adventure in Courage, Solitude, and Questionable Bathrooms in America’s Most Beautiful Places, available on Amazon Books.  235 pages with full color images. Itinerary, packing list, helpful tips, and do’s and don’ts included.  Free shipping for Amazon Prime members.  Kindle edition also available. 
 

  

Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.  

I’m Wearing My Rose-Colored Glasses Darn It!

“She chose the rose colored glasses not because she was naïve, but because she knew the power of positive focus.”― Christina Sutra 

Seeing the World through Rose-Colored Glasses

According to Wikipedia, Rose-colored glasses or rose-tinted glasses may refer to:

• Optimism, the tendency to see things in a positive light

• Rosy retrospection, the tendency to view past events in a positive (often unrealistic) light

One crisp November morning deep in peak fall color season, I was driving along a country road I’ve traveled countless times.  I was awestruck by the beauty of the surrounding landscape, the warm shades of golden grasses in the fields and the toasty brown of the leaves in the trees against the pink glow of the morning sunrise.  I was filled with joy at the sight.

Then I realized I was wearing a new pair of sunglasses with rose-tinted lenses.  I took them off and found that the lenses had definitely boosted the beauty of the scene, adding a luminous, warm filter.

I put those glasses right back on and continued to bask in the joyful feeling of being surrounded by the beauty of nature.  You might object that I was fooling myself - that I was not accepting the reality of the situation.  

I would argue that I was just making a choice to see everything in the best possible light. No harm was done by throwing a warm filter over my world for the length of my drive.  I wasn’t putting castles where there were mobile homes or mountains where there were billboards.  I couldn’t hide the trash cans and broken-down jalopies littering a yard, but even the junk and the signs looked prettier in the lovely glow of my glasses.  The unsightly parts simply became part of a beautiful whole, and the end result was joy.  

Couldn’t we all use a little more of that?  The world is full of beauty and growth as well as the grotesque and decaying.  If a dose of rose-colored perspective helps me to feel more hopeful and positive in that chaotic world,  I’m going to wear them, darn it

With Rose-Colored Lenses

Without Rose-Colored Lenses

Arianne 

If you enjoyed this post, consider purchasing my books, Solo Car Camping Across America, An Adventure in Courage, Solitude, and Questionable Bathrooms in America’s Most Beautiful Places, available on Amazon Books.  235 pages with full color images. Itinerary, packing list, helpful tips, and do’s and don’ts included.  Free shipping for Amazon Prime members.  Kindle edition also available. 
 

  

Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.  

Me and a Bird on the Beach: The Wingspan Effect

“He was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all”
― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

I was running on the beach this morning but the tide was high and rising; and the sand was soft and unstable.  I slowed to a walk and noticed a shorebird to the left keeping pace with me, his small gray body balanced on absurdly long thin legs.  He darted along hurriedly, giving me the side eye occasionally with a toss of his pointy beak.  I began to feel as if the bird and I were taking a stroll together.  

Eventually I swung my arm a little too enthusiastically and frightened him into flight. He sailed away over the ocean chirping loudly only to return moments later a few yards up the beach, striding forward while glancing back at me.  

I might not have noticed him if I’d hurried with my mind lost in my daily to-do list.  But I did notice and experienced this small moment of communion in my busy day.

I’m also convinced it wouldn’t have happened without Wingspan.  Wingspan is a board game my kids and I discovered years ago.  I never imagined that a game about the characteristics, nesting habits and preferred food sources of birds would be entertaining, mentally challenging, and informative at the same time, but we truly enjoy it. I have to say that ever since I started playing, Ive noticed birds in a way that I never have before.  Birds began to enter into my awareness on a daily basis. Of course they had always been around, but now they had become part of my focus.

Which makes me wonder how easy it is to alter my everyday perception based on input. It emphasizes the importance of steering my brain towards beauty and connection; and of slowing down, so I’ll notice.  

Arianne

p.s. this was not meant to be an ad for Wingspan, but it is a cool game.  

If you enjoyed this post, consider purchasing my books, Solo Car Camping Across America, An Adventure in Courage, Solitude, and Questionable Bathrooms in America’s Most Beautiful Places, available on Amazon Books.  235 pages with full color images. Itinerary, packing list, helpful tips, and do’s and don’ts included.  Free shipping for Amazon Prime members.  Kindle edition also available. 
 

  

Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.