I just finished helping a friend, Angela Elpers, paint a mural in Holy Spirit Church in Evansville, Indiana. The church was built in 1962 and is comprised clean, modern lines, and a number of triangular motifs.
Angela and I drew inspiration from several sources. The overall composition was determined by a vintage print of Dominican saints grouped under Mary’s mantle. The pastor, Fr. Burns, requested that we insert ten saints that were special to the parish: St. Bernadette, St. Faustina, St. Therese the Little Flower, St. Theodore, St. Clare, St. Benedict, St. Charles Borromeo, Blessed Juan Diego, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Padre Pio. We decided to adopt the color scheme from the Cuzco school of Peruvian art as well as incorporate gold patterns from medieval illuminated manuscripts.
Day 1
The wall that we worked on was initially raw drywall and tape. We prepared the surface by spackling any surface imperfections, sanding, and the painting a layer of primer.
The first full day of work on the mural began with snapping accurate chalk lines to determine the border of the areas in which we were working. Next, we painted a base of warm, yellow ochre. This color matches the stonework within the church and provides a nice base for the intense color scheme. We then drew a grid in order to transfer the design from paper to wall. We drew design in pencil, then blocked it in with a burnt sienna wash. It was at this point that we realized that the drywall tape was still showing through, so we had to re-spackle all the seams.
Day 2
By the next day, the spackle was dry. We sanded it down, repainted all the seams yellow, and began to paint the figures. We generally worked from the top down so that any inadvertent drips would not land on completed sections of the mural. Acrylic paint tends to work best if one paints from dark to light. We painted dark shadows first and then worked lighter and lighter for all the faces and drapery. It was difficult to judge to proportions close to the wall. We frequently had to ride the lift all the way down and walk at least forty feet away until we could accurately tell whether a head was too big or an arm too small.
Day 3
We spent the third day finishing all the figures. Each saint required individual research. It was challenging but satisfying working on the expressions of the individual saints. We added areas of additional detail for visual interest like the monstrance in St. Clare’s hands and St. Charles Borromeo’s lace chasuble.
Day 4
The final day was spent fixing small details on each saint, adding a golden stencil pattern on the wall, and adding a blue border. The best part came at the very end when we painted rays around the dove and a flowering halo around Mary.
The Finished Mural
The finishing touches on the mural include a wooden frame, golden stars on the blue background and the text “Veni Per Mariam”.
The incredible pace at which we painted this mural could not have happened were it not for many helpful people. Thanks are due to Linda and Leonard Elpers, Don at Holy Spirit Church, Troy the Spackler, and Becky the Sander, and Brad the Vacuumer.
