About a year ago, I got a call asking if I'd be interested in painting on a 112 foot long breezeway wall leading to the Bennet Cancer Center at Stamford Hospital.
Anyone entering the building has to traverse a long grey corridor. The idea behind the mural was to lighten that walk for patients, family members, and staff.
Stamford Hospital has an extensive collection of art, much of it local. I'm fortunate to have eleven of my paintings on walls around the hospital, including this Pink Cherry Tree in the foyer. It became the starting place for the mural.
Pink Cherry Tree, charcoal, acrylic, & oil paint on linen, 68"x60, collection Stamford Hospital, Ct
Cherry Trees once grew on the building's site, and the hospital wanted them included.
Sketch, Flower Mural
I imagined huge flowers floating along the breezeway, with cherry petals scattering in the breeze. Defying gravity and breaking up the space at the same time, I thought a floating arc of large flowers would disrupt the wall's solidity and elevate the mood.
Flowers in the Breezeway, sketch, pencil and acrylic on prepared paper, 81/2”x11”
A blooming tree at the end of the breezeway served as focal point and anchor for the floating flowers, and allowed for a great burst of color at the entryway.
Flowers in the Breezeway, sketch, pencil and acrylic on prepared paper, 101/2”x83”
I made a scale drawing of the walls to see how the flowers would lay out,
choosing local flowers with healing and medicinal properties.
While looking into the best paint for the surface, I learned that the wall (porous) could not hold paint (non-porous). Moisture would seep into the wall, have no way out, and the paint would peel. I paid a visit to the owner of the company that manufactures the wall surfacing. Eds Senior and Junior told me that they could mix the compound in any color I liked, and then I could paint with that. I left the shop with 30 blank color cards.
Six Flowers, sand and oil paint on prepared cardboard, 30”x40”
I usually make it up as I go while painting, figuring out the colors as I work and using as many mixtures as I like. For this to work I had to limit the number of colors I used and predetermine what they would be. I worked them out for each type of flower, assigning each mixture a letter and number and putting it on one of the color cards as I went.
I mixed greens for what felt like days, looking for the right shades.
When I had all my colors, I shipped the color samples to New Jersey and let Ed Jr. work his magic.
Coneflower, sketch, charcoal on canvas, 36"x28"