Vero Beach Mural

February 10th, our 60th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2012-02-11T21:27:00.001-08:00

Detail of Panels #5 and #6 by Dawn Mill

Christine Thomas worked on several areas of her Panel #6, but concentrated especially on the surfer (her grandson Noah) and the sailboarder with the dog. Very tricky perspective, but I think she's nailed it.

Detail of Christine Thomas' Panel #6

Today for me was pretty productive, although much of it wasn't fun. Buildings, buildings, and more buildings! Painted in the areas from the top of the main buildings all the way into the barrier island on Panel #1, putting in crude buildings sandwiched by foliage, sandwiched by buildings. These areas are certainly not the focal point, but they had to be done, albeit fast and vague. Need to get a good image of the 17th Street Bridge, and I hadn't been able to get one on the web. Next session I will paint something enjoyable in the lagoon--perhaps sailboats and fishing boats.

Judy Burgarella's Panel #1

When I couldn't stand it anymore I switched to working on Panel #2: painted in a painted bunting, a cardinal, and a roughed-in deer behind the plumbago tree. Also refined Rob Slezak's wife (gal with camera central on Panel #2).

Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

It's hard to see the progress on these large canvases when they are reduced so much to fit a computer screen, but close-up you would see the progress.

Monday of next week Dawn and I will not be working on the mural, but Christine may be, and perhaps she'll post for me. And Friday both Dawn and I will be working at the Paint-out at the Environmental Learning Center--come see us there painting "en plein air" Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Feb. 16-17-18) 9:00-4:00. So not much work on the mural will be accomplished next week, but we'll keep you posted of any progress.

Ciou!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project - PS-Be sure to check out the OTHER Vero Beach Mural, on an outside cement wall by the railroad tracks on Route 60 Eastbound--beautiful colorful giant hibiscus brightening up downtown Vero Beach for all to enjoy! (Also sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, and generously painted by Art Club members)

February 6th, the 59th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2012-02-06T16:31:00.000-08:00

Southwest corner of Panel #1 - Judy Burgarella & Rita Ziegler

After researching my photos of downtown, I realized the sidewalk on the side of this building was gray, so changed that, along with correcting some of the perspective I had roughed in some time ago. Worked on the downtown grass island and tidied up some of the buildings.

Below is greatly enlarged detail of portraits of Rita Ziegler and myself, walking with all our gear towards a plein air site to paint.

Close-ups of me (Judy Burgarella) and Rita Ziegler on Panel #1

The size that you see above is actually much larger than what is actually on the canvas. Getting a good likeness on such a small size on canvas is very difficult, but again it's only a mural! Clothes, shoes and skin need a bit more tweaking, and Rita's shirt will read "Vero Beach" prominently when I'm done.

Spent some time finishing up a few other spots on panel #1, but not important enough to photograph. Well, that's all for now folks, Dawn and I will be painting on Friday, and Christine if she can get away, so peek back on Saturday and see what's new.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

January 30th, 58th Mural Painting Session

2012-01-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

Panel #1 - People on bench

Next I painted in a cute little fox laying in the brush. He was a challenge to do, and at the end I'll probably tweak him some more.

Red fox added to Panel #2

Next I painted in some grasses on the street islands in Panel #1, below.

Panel #1, grass island

On my laptop I pulled up the reference photo I took of Rita Ziegler (president of the Vero Beach Art Club), and painted more detail on her. I needed to shorten her stature, and change much of what I had blocked in a while back, which also changed the perspective of myself in the foreground, and so I painted out the top of my head to make me shorter. Will finish that up next time. Not quite finished with Rita, she needs refinement of legs and arms and clothes.

Refing Rita Ziegler's image, not quite done yet, and bringing the size of myself down in proportion.

Well, that's all for today folks. I will not be painting Friday, company coming in. Dawn and Christine may be painting some time this week, and perhaps they will post something. Signing off till Monday, February 6th.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

January 27th, 57th Mural Painting Session

2012-01-27T18:04:00.000-08:00

Theatre Plaza sign on panel #1

Another redo, after seeing Mayor Pilar Turner's image uploaded in a small size (instead of on an 8' panel!), I noticed her head was too pointy, so fixed that.

Mayor Pilar Turner on Panel #1, slightly revised.

After I finished the Theatre Plaza marquee and fixing Mayor Turner's head, I started to work on the little grass islands and put in a bench. By 11:30 I was in the zone and wishing Dawn and Christine were there with me, as we all kind of "get in the zone" together. Had a ball painting those ibis, and after painting the bench I thought wouldn't it be nice to have someone sitting on it. Viewers have said they love the fact that there is so much life depicted in downtown on the mural. And so--Wallah! I came up with the perfect solution! What better place to show off my new (first) grandchild than in the Vero Beach Mural! Yes, great idea. So our two girls, Tracy and Robin, and Robin's new little daughter, Salem, are roughed in (very rough) on the bench seen below.

Park Bench on Panel #1

Note the ibis walking nearby. For you newbies out there, it is not unusual for ibis or egrets to be foraging nearby humans, and in fact many times I have come back to my car in a parking lot and found one of those darling critters perched on my hood looking like a hood ornament! It's a thrill to be surprised by such a sight, and it always reminds me of what a paradise we live in here on the Treasure Coast.

Below is a detail of Panel #1 which shows a few of the things that were painted in today: grassy islands, marquee signs, ibis, bench, 2 women and baby, and touch-ups on Mayor Turner.

Detail of progress today on Panel #1

And so here is the whole panel #1 so far, alongside Panel #2 which it transitions onto. Although I'm having fun with #1, I can't wait to finish up that ornary snake on the dead tree in #2, and put one of those ugly ol' vultures in that I always see cleaning up roadkill. A very fascinating food chain we have here by golly!

Panels #1 and #2 by Judy Burgarella

Be sure to check back next week and see what's new!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

January 23rd, our 56th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2012-01-24T15:25:00.000-08:00

Detail of Downtown Panel #1, Mayor Pilar Turner

Pictured below are elements I was also able to work on - the old movie theatre foyer with the pillars, the blocking in of Tea & Chi, the overhang marquee, Theatre Plaza sign and a soon-to-come bench which has been roughly blocked in with vine charcoal. Lettering is always a bit of a challenge for me, but this is only a mural and it is not meant to be perfect.
NOTE: After posting this and then proofreading it again online, I realize that the perspective on the vertical "Theatre Plaza" sign is absolutely wrong! Eugh! Guess this will be a redo for Friday. Panels are so big sometimes you just get lost in them, but once they are in the blog it seems that one can see all the mistakes.

Detail of Panel #1 elements worked on

Below is the whole panel.

Panel #1, in progress

Below are Panels #1 and #2 pictured side-by-side, the way they will be mounted in the Florida Room of the Community Center. There are still finishing touches to be done, plus additions to the sky, in Panel #2, but we think the transition from #1 to #2 is pretty good considering it's going from city to country (western Vero).

Panels #1 & #2 by Judy Burgarella

Well, that's all for now folks. This Friday Christine will be painting with me -- Yay! We've got some great things planned for the next session, so stay tuned!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

January 13th, our 55th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2012-01-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

Dawn Mill's Panels #4 & #5 - Making a smoother Transition

Aside from Dawn working on the above, pictured below are some additional finishing touches she also painted in on various buildings below. Christine's vast ocean elements will be waiting for her when she finishes her move, although she is near to completion herself.

Detail of Dawn Mill's beach area and Ocean Drive on Panels #5 & #6

Dawn Mill's Panel #5

I finished up the baby skunk looking over the log and put more finishing touches on the log, although need more scumbling on the right side.

Detail of Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

Rob Slezak's (Recreation Director) wife is pictured blocked in below. Not quite done with her yet, but she's shaping up nicely.

Rob Slezak and wife - he with binoculars and she with camera (not painted in yet!)

Judy Burgarella's Panel #2, Western Vero, pine scrub, etc.

With Christine in the process of moving, and with Dawn and I having art shows back-to-back and keeping up with the Gallery (we are 2 of the 19 owner/partners of the Artists Guild Guild Gallery in Vero Beach) we are grateful for down time, which will be Monday, it being Martin Luther King Day and the building is closed. However we will be back to the canvas on Friday, although leaving early to get ready for Art By The Sea's opening reception in the Vero Beach Museum. We are both working sales at the show (Dawn is in charge of the hanging) so it wil be a busy day, and an exciting night. Hope I can scrub the paint off my hands by then.

So check back some time on Saturday when I'll have posted another bunch of pictures, and be sure to see the Vero Beach Art Club's fabulous Art By The Sea Show, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with an opening reception Friday night from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm - wine, hors d'eouvres, lots of artists, and you'll be able to see the fine art of two of the Mural artists - myself and Dawn. Don't miss it!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

2012 - January 8th, Our 54th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2012-01-09T19:00:00.000-08:00

Panels 5 and 6, Beachside and Coral Reef Panels - upper panels by Dawn Mll, lower sections by Christine Thomas

Pictured below is Dawn working on the buildings (mostly hotels and restaurants) that line Ocean Drive.

Dawn Mill painting buildings and foliage into Panels #5 and #6

Although a short day, I was able to paint the wild pigs and the gentleman holding binoculars, who happens to be Ron Slezak, Director of Parks and Recreation, who requested this project of the Vero Beach Art Club. A swell guy who is always agreeable and helpful, and always cheers us on.

Detail of Judy Burgarella's Panel #2 - Recreation Director Ron Slezak

Detail of Judy Burgarella's panel #2

Pictured below is myself at work painting Ron into Panel #2.

Judy Burgarella painting Ron Slezak's portrait

It was good to get back to the mural, and very satsfying to see all six panels lined up together end to end. Seeing them all together, we could see several places that could be improved. Dawn and I discussed aesthetic adjustments we will do at a later date to make the panel's transitions more pleasing to the eye. For now, we will plug along getting the main elements on the canvas. Check back again Friday for more updates.
Ciou!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

December 18th - A Full View of the Panels So Far

2011-12-18T12:58:00.000-08:00

Before signing off for two+ weeks, here is a view of the panels - first in 3's, then the whole full view. Keep in mind that photos of different panels were taken in varied lighting, so the colors look like they don't match ... bu they actually do. Dawn, Christine and I took special care that colors were exactly the same as one panel transitions into another. Panels #1 and #5 still have some basic elements to do, and the rest of the panels are a little more finished.

Panels 1-2-3 (#1 & #2 by Judy Burgarella, #3 by Dawn Mill)

Panels 4-5-6 (#4 by Dawn Mill, #5 & #6 by Christine Thomas, with beach continued by Dawn Mill)

All six panels to date

Signing off for real now, however read on to find out about the Vero Beach Art Club's Hibiscus Mural on 20th Street.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

Deceber 17th, Another Vero Beach Mural

2011-12-17T18:36:00.000-08:00

Today on my way home from manning the Artists Guild Gallery on 14th Avenue in Vero Beach, I happened upon the "other" mural that was being painted, on Route #20 East, just east of the railroad tracks. This is another fine project sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club for the City.

If you are from these parts, you may have driven by an old faded and very primitive mural of hibiscus painted on three sides of a cement block wall. I've driven by it countless times and wondered who did it and when was it done, and why--it's in such an odd space. I still don't know, however the Vero Beach Art Club has taken it upon themselves to refurbish this eyesore for the City of Vero Beach. VBAC member Karen Leffel-Massengill www.karenleffelmassengill.com/ has taken on the job of directing the project, and has bumped it up a bit, and now it looks like it will be a work of art instead of "just another mural." She showed me her design and it was fabulous, and on this day she was outlining the pattern, making ready for volunteers to sort of "paint-by-number," and then other artists will come by and tweak in the refinements. Sounds like a great strategy for such a big project, which will be worked on by many hands.

Karen is not just your average painter, but a very accomplished landscape artist whose work has gotten the eye of many people in this town. She held a workshop which I organized over the summer and it was a smashing success. She is a professional artist, busy in all aspects of running her art business. The Art Club is proud to have such a competent artist managing this larger-than-life project.

I first met Karen when I was exhibiting at an Art in the Park show in Vero, and she was working the show in another capacity, when one of the exhibitors fell ill. Well, she jumped in with me and we got the tent down, and the exhibitor on her way home and all turned out well due to our teamwork and the help of other hands. She gave me her card and at the end of the day I looked at her website and was blown away. Then she entered the Artists Guild's Invitational show and we just had to have her as an Guest Artist. We are proud to announce that a body of her work will be exhibited for the month of April at the Artists Guild Gallery. So after that long story, I'll get to the point by showing below a sample of her design work.

Karen Laffell Massengell working on the Hibiscus Mural in Vero Beach

This is just the view of the south end of the wall. Easterly there is another I'd say 30 feet. Then there are three other sides to this monstrosity. When she gets done this will surely be a work of art that people will talk about and be able to enjoy each time they drive by. What a gift. We are just getting so "Artsy" here in Vero Beach.

Karen Laffell Massengell outlining the already-transferred pattern

So anyway, when I drove by and saw this solitary person working on the mural I just had to stop and give her an "atta-boy" for sitting in the sun and painting all by herself ... and getting that job closer to completion. And what a steady hand she has! Hope you enjoyed this little addition to our blog, I sure did enjoy seeing her work and chatting with her.

Remember, no more blogging for a couple of weeks, so check back in after that.

Regards,
Judy Burgarella
blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

December 16th, Our 53rd Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2011-12-16T18:19:00.000-08:00

Dawn Mill's butterflies and armadillo on Panel #3

Dawn Mill's dragonfly on Panel #3

Dawn Mil's Lizard on Panel #3

Christine polished up her surf-boarder, who happends to look a lot like her grandson Noah ... h-m-m-m-m. Pictures of him are farther along on this blog when he visited this summer. We had such fun with him and hope he comes back again to lighten the day.

Christine Thomas' Panel #6

Christine Thomas' Surfer on Panel #6

Dawn's Panel #3 and Christine's Panel #4

I eventually got started and mapped in the sandhill cranes. I still have work to do on some details, especially the baby, but these critters are almost done. It is such a pleasure to work from my laptop, having all kinds of images right there in front of me, and to be able to enlarge them is such an advantage.

Judy Burgarella's Panel #2 - Western Vero

Detail of Sandhill Cranes on Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

Had a ball painting these lovely birds. A family of them visited us just yesterday, and we hand-fed them bread which they picked up and then dunk in the canal for moisture. They are colorful with their bright red caps, graceful and friendly, and look like something prehistoric especially when in flight. Sandhill cranes are almost 4 feet tall and their wingspan must be at least the same. I think they are my favorite Florida animal, although I do love the alligators.

We hope you enjoyed looking at this blog. This will be our last painting session until January 6th or 9th, as we are taking a break for the holidays. And so we will pick this back up at that time. Until then, Dawn, Christine and I wish you a Merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

December 9th, Our 52nd Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2011-12-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club as a gift to the City. The artist members of the Vero Beach Art Club who are volunteering their time and talents are Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas (www.innerspacesandouterplaces.com). Examples of artists' work can also be found on www.verobeachartclub.org/) The Mural consists of six stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors are welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.

Today after setting up we spent a little time strategizing about the mural--assessing progress and projecting timelines, planning additional elements, and deciding what we could do without in order to expedite the process nearer to completion. Christine soon arrived and we continued our discussions about strategy and timing. We basked in the beauty of our accomplishment, noting that all canvases are finally covered.

At this point the mural has taken on a life of its own. It appears that we three have created our own little universe based on the highlights of Vero Beach. It's such a treat to view the piece as a whole, and follow each panel as it transitions from Downtown Vero Beach into the pineforest, on over into the flats and western Vero and into the hammocks and farmland (the Sexton Ranch), down into the scrub habitat and through the cypress swamp, meandering on into the mangrove swamp to the Indian River Lagoon, and on into the island at the beach and dunes in back of the businesses on A1A, and finally into the cool deep of the Ocean Reef.

Transitioning from one panel to another proved tricky, but I believe we have accomplished the feat pretty cleverly. We strived to create a beautiful work of art, one that the City will be proud of, but the viewer should keep in mind that the mission of this mural is to: 1) convey the habitats of Vero Beach; 2) represent current animal inhabitants and plantlife, featuring some endangered species; 3) produce a work of art to enhance the Community Center, and present it to the Town of Vero Beach in appreciation of their efforts on behalf of the Vero Beach Art Club.

Because of the complexity of the mural, the transitioning artwork took much planning on our part, but even so it is not a perfect science in that some of the transitioning posed a bit of perspective and size-relationship challenges. At times when we had to choose between the aesthetic and beauty of the peace and a perfect spacial relationship and perspective, the beauty thing won over. Therefore, you may see the size of one animal in a certain position on any canvas, compared to another animal who may not be the right size compared to the animal on the adjoining canvas. All other elements are depicted as accurately as we could render, considering some of the scant references we had to go on, and the time it takes outside of the painting sessions to find research material. In the 2001 mural, there was a researcher who did all of that legwork

So now for the pictures. Below is Christine Thomas' Panel #6, wherein she worked on Mel Fisher, the famous treasure hunter whose museum in Sebastian still glitters with his found fortunes. She also worked on the sea anemones and some other elements of the coral. Way to go, Christine, you nailed that underwater paradise.

Christine Thomas' Panel #6

Panel #6 detail with Mel Fisher discovering treasure!

Dawn Mill worked on her Panel #3, refining some greenery and flowers in the foreground and the meandering shore, finally putting legs and feet on her poor heron. She also painted in some lovely flowers and a butterfly. This panel is alive with beautiful birds and animals, seems in perfect harmony.

Detail of Dawn Mill's Panel #3

As for me, I was really cookin' today. I concentrated on completing the scrub along the pathway, plants along its edges, creating little green runners and patches of grasses. I had hoped there would be enough time to paint in some critters. Can't wait to paint more animals, flowers and bugs. But it's finally done. And the next painting session will be Friday because of the room being rented out.

Judy Burgarella's Panel #2 transitioning into Dawn Mill's Panel #3

Below is detail of Panel #2, finally completely covered and waiting for new animals to walk down that path!

Detail of Judy Burgarella's Panel #3

We will not be painting on Monday due to the room being used by another organization, however we'll be back there again on Friday, perhaps the last painting session until after the New Year. Didn't get to paint the baby skunks coming out of the log, but I'm determined to get it done next time. Come-on back!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

December 5th, Our 51st Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2011-12-06T03:45:00.000-08:00

Detail of Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

Pilar Turner, Vero Beach's new Mayor stopped by with a tray of cookies for us. Thank you Mayor Turner, it was such a treat--we made tea and had a break after you left. I climbed onto the counter and took photos of her in various positions from above, trying to get the right angle to paint her into the city on panel #1 as our current mayor. It was nice of her to stay and chat a while and say such positive things about the mural.

Panel #1 - Positioning Mayor Pilar Turner on mural

Jeff Matthews, Manager of the City of Vero Beach's Leisure Square, stopped by to see the mural and was very impressed. Having had experience with a paintbrush himself, he was appreciative of the size of the project and the time and talent we've invested in it. Enjoyed our chat with him and hearing about his little girl, who sounds adorable. Took a photo of him in the position of leaning on a rail, and perhaps Dawn can paint him in on the deck of the Driftwood, looking out at the ocean.

Jeff Matthews enjoying the view of Panels #2 and #3

Christine made some headway today on her coral pieces, straining her eyes to paint the nuances of color which glisten in that other-worldly place. Christine is doing a fine job of creating an environment depicting the neighborhood digs of unerwater critters, and in the process putting in as many endangered and beautiful representations she can in the limited space. It was a great idea on her part to paint in he famous Mel Fisher, finder of fabulous treasure here on the Treasure Coast.

Christine Thomas' Panel #6, Ocean Reef

Coral Reef detail of Christine Thomas' Panel #6

Stop back on this blog on Friday (or Saturday) and I'll have posted all three of our progress to that point, as we will all be painting together again.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

December 2nd, our 50th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2011-12-04T03:37:00.000-08:00

All six 6'x8' panels of the Vero Beach Mural Project

Saturday, December 3rd I manned the Artists Guild Gallery early in the morning in order to sell tickets to the Vero Beach Art Club's "Art Trail," a tour of 10 artist's studios. By 11:00 a.m. I was off with two other gallery buddies to spend a delightful day touring other artists' studios. One of the stops on the tour was the studio/farm of Sean and Sharon Sexton. This was the absolute highlight of the whole day, and one that I will always remember. Our first hint of what was to come was as we pulled up in the driveway several cobalt blue and seafoam green peacocks strutted up to greet us. Coincidentally, I painted their farm into the mural months ago at the request of Dawn Mill, who provided me with a photo of the barn. Now after seeing this wonderful work of art that is their home and studio, I am ashamed to say that my brief painting in the upper left corner of Panel #2 certainly does not do it justice. Sean and Sharon are not only masters with the brush, but masters of carpentry, design, improvisation, and incredible finders of delicious artifacts which they have incorporated into their one-of-a-kind home. I mentioned to Sean that I had painted their farm into the mural, and so below is the small area where the Sexton Barn is represented.

Sexton Barn, etc.

Below are the panels, two-by-two, in order to better see the detail.

Panels #1 and #2 by Judy Burgarella

Panel #3 by Dawn Mill transitioning to Panel #4 by Christine Thomas

Panel #5 by Dawn Mill and Panel #6 by Christine Thomas

Shown below is Dawn painting from a ladder. The ladder is essential as we add elements to the upper area, which makes the painting of this mural a little more difficult. It is getting more beautiful with each painting session, and will make a wonderful attraction for the City.

Dawn Mill painting in her spoonbills

Below are the five spoonbills Dawn painted in Panels #3 and #4 - a perfect addition to our mural.

Dawn Mill's spoonbills

Most of my day today was working on the transitioning of Panels #1 and #2, and I painted in hibiscus sandwitched among saw palmettos. On the screen it doesn't look like much, but it is equivalent to doing a complete medium-sized painting in a day, minus lugging the canvases out of their hiding place and setting up which takes about an hour and a half out of our 8-hour day. Next time I'll scumble in some grasses around the panther cub (which incidentally they really are spotted when young) and this section of the canvas will be completely done.

Judy Burgarella's Panel #1 and #2 transition

Be sure to visit back again next week and see what new critters we breathe life into!

Ciou!

Judy Burgarella

Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

November 28th, Our 49th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2011-11-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Detail of Chistine Thomas' Panel #6 (purple anemones at bottom)

Christine Thomas' Panel #6

Below are panels #1 and #2 side-by-side, and note the unfinished segue at the bottom. It will be interesting to figure out what to put in there that is interesting yet purposeful. And today I added a Florida Panther cub--they are spotted while young, and oh so cute! Also added a log, supposedly broken from the dead tree, and a scrub jay and blocked in some pigs. I also blocked in more color in the grassy area and truer sand color throughout. Next time I'll paint something peeking out from the log. We, in essence, are creating our own worlds, based on the highlights and habitats of Vero Beach, and it is such an enjoyable process. There certainly will be a void in our lives when the mural is completed, however it will be nice to have those extra 2 days in a week back again for ourselves.

Judy Burgarella's Panel #1 and Panel #2

Panel #2--note the cub and scrub jay

More animals coming Friday, and more sea-creatures too! Oh, and Dawn will be joining us to paint all day too--so visit this site again Saturday Morning. Signing off, I am ...
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

November 25th, our 48th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2011-11-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

Rita Ziegler, President of Vero Beach Art Club, and featured in Panel #1, Downtown Vero

Today Christine worked mostly on her parrotfish and the lionfish, which came out beautiful. She also repositioned her surfer, and changed the sex of her sailboarder to a woman. We can do things like that so easily with a paintbrush! She also did some other tweaking here and there during he day. Below is are some of the fruits of her day:

Lionfish on Panel #6 by Christine Thomas

Detail of Panel #6 by Christine Thomas

Panel #6 by Christine Thomas

Parrotfish on Panel #6 by Christine Thomas

Today I didn't waste any time and got straight to work. So much foliage to put into Panel #2, and it looks really too green right now, but won't look like that once more detail is in. But got a good deal of it done, and fine tuned some of the segue onto Panel #1. Had fun painting the prickly pear nestled among some dried brush, and next time I'll put the prickers on them.

Panel #2 by Judy Burgarella, segueing onto Panel #1

Notice how vague the seam is getting in places now. Soon the segue between #1 and #2 will be almost seamless, and make some sense--at least as much sense as I can create with my brush.

Rob Sleezak (Community Center Director) and his wife Mary came in at about 6:00 to put the panels away, so it was pack-up time. I took pics of them both to put them into the mural. They will be the bird-watcher and photographer. Rob's been so cooperative with us, helping to get us extra time on the mural, carting them into his office on weekends (which is not an easy feat), and just seeing to it that they are safe. Thanks Rob.

Well, I hope everyone had a stuffingly wonderful Thanksgiving ... we did. Stop by again and see what we've done.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

November 21, Our 47th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2011-11-21T16:43:00.000-08:00

NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, and created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas (www.innerspacesandouterplaces.com). Examples of artists' work can be found on www.verobeachartclub.org/) The Mural consists of six stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors are welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.

Again we are painting without Dawn, as she has classes today. We hope she is feeling better too. Christine and I both discussed how difficult it is to get here in the morning, getting out of our snuggly beds. However, once the brush is dipped in paint everything changes. We then become creators of life. Well, maybe not real life, but life on the canvas. With acrylic, I am learning, painting animals is especially exciting because as you apply each layer you can see the smudges of paint gradually come to life, and in a rather short time. And if the eyes are painted looking out from the canvas, it is almost as if they are alive. Once the final touches are applied it is so satisfying to stand back and really see it in the context of the whole panel. As we paint we are always cognizant of how the children will react to it. Therefore no animal will have a lower part of the food chain in its mouth or talens.

Today we had about 7-8 people pop in to take a peek, a very nice couple who saw the article about the mural in Indian River Magazine and were amazed at the canvases. A little girl who pops in whenever she can inbetween her dance lessons at the Community Center. She loves the manatees. And her mom, Nicole and her mother (below) who stayed and chatted with us for a while.

Visitors Nicole and her mom

Christine today enhanced her clownfish and other fishies. She also continues to fine tune the octopus, applying layer after layer of color. Those troublesome suction cups on the backside of the octopus' tendrils are so interesting, however painting them is very labor intensive. Below is a detail of Christine's progress on Panel #6.

Christine Thomas' clownfish on Panel #6

Below is the whole of Christine's panel #6, coming along beautifully. We are all learning a lot about the various ecosystems as we do our research, but the underwater world is by far the most colorful, interesting, and unbelievably beautiful of all. If man were to discover life on another planet, I bet it wouldn't be as bizarre as some of the life right off our shores here in Vero Beach Florida.

Underwater life on Christine Thomas' Panel #6

So for myself, today was an exciting one, having been able to complete two whole critters which now is my favorite thing to do.

Blue Heron on Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

Detail of Judy Burgarella's Panel #2 - turkey from last week, new is turtle and scrub peninsula.

Below is the complete panel #2. Newly painted, besides the turtle and heron, is a little patch of pickerel weed and fern at the water's edge, and some scrub bushes and grasses. Next session I hope to paint that snake hanging on the dead branch ... and have him looking right out at you!

Judy Burgarella's Panel #6

Well, that's all for now. I wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving ... and remember that bald, bumpy ugly and headless turkey you'll be shoving stuffing into Thanksgiving morning once looked as beautiful as the one in my painting!
Regards,
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

November 18th, our 46th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2011-11-19T20:47:00.000-08:00

NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, and created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas (www.innerspacesandouterplaces.com). Examples of artists' work can be found on www.verobeachartclub.org/) The Mural consistes of six stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors are welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.

Today Dawn was ill, so it was just Christine and myself painting the mural. Working hours would be short for me because of a 2-hour interruption due to a meeting I had to attend. However I think Christine and I made some progress today.

Evelyn from Vero Beach Magazine stopped in today to take a quick peek at the mural so she could mention it in her "Collaboration" essay for the Magazine. It appeared that the mural exceeded her expectations because she seemed pleasantly surprised at the color, beauty and magnitude of the project. She was on the run but we managed to quickly explain a little about the mural and its mission.

My friend Peni Baker stopped by to check out the mural and show us the wonderful toy train she gathered up for the Christmas mural she is creating for the Sebastian River Art Club. It will be installed November 29th at the Sebastian (North County) Library--another mural worth seeing. Yours truly painted a Santa portrait for that project.

Christine was determined today to improve upon her painting of an octopus, which is the biggest, most prominent critter in Panel #6, and sure to be the focal point. By now she is an expert on octopus anatomy, having thoroughly researched this sea creature ... and by golly I think she's got it! He looks terrific at this point, and truly an amazing and other-worldly-looking animal. The children will love him, and the colors look like a rainbow of pearls ... an amazing compliment to the rest of the panel.

Christine Thomas painting "Oscar" the Octopus on Panel #6

Although I myself got an early start, it was slow-going at first. After perusing some of my research and what I had on my laptop, I began plotting the course of what animal life I will put in this panel, and sketched their locations in with vine charcoal. I tried to include the most common animals seen in the habitats on Panel #2, along with the endangered Florida panther, yet it was a stretch to paint them in so close together. Including indigenous shrubs, bushes and trees painted in strategic places would help me to accomplish that.

So today I loosely sketched in the locations of various animals, painted in a turkey and a birdwatcher, and finished painting the two palm trees in the foreground. The turkey will probably have a mate (female) painted in on Monday. Next are more shrubs, grasses, debris ... and "Deer-armadillos-and hogs---Oh, my!"

Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

So be sure to come back again, we'll be painting on Monday and hope to make some more progress. And get well soon Dawn ... we need you!
Ciou!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural

November 14th, Our 45th Vero Beach Mural Painting Session

2011-11-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

Panel #6 Detail by Christine Thomas

Panel #6 by Christine Thomas

I finally figured out how to utilize my new (used) laptop for the mural, and it sure made retrieving my images easy for me. Today I added more branches to the large pine tree in the foreground, enhanced the strangler fig, graced the big oak with Spanish moss and resurrection fern, did some background brush scumbling, created a scrub peninsula, and had such fun painting an owl in flight. Painting wildlife is such a thrill, as it feels like you're in the act of creating life, especially if the eyes are straight-on, which in this case they were. The rest of the background brush and scrubs needs to be completed before I paint in critters walking on the ground. The wildlife seems to be the focal point of each panel, and we all agree that they are the most fun to paint.

Detail of Panel #2 and segue onto Panel #1 by Judy Burgarella

Judy Burgarella's Panel #2, Segueing onto Panel #1

Friday we'll all be painting the mural together again, so stop back here and see what we've accomplished!
Ciou!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project
Vero Beach Art Club
http://www.verobeachartclub.org/

November 11th (11/11/11!) our 44th Mural Painting Session

2011-11-13T05:42:00.000-08:00

NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, and created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas (www.innerspacesandouterplaces.com). Examples of artists' work can be found on www.verobeachartclub.org/) The Mural consistes of six stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors are welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.

Today we were really cookin'! Got there about 8:30, set up and got straight to work. Christin, Dawn and I worked pretty steady through the day and I believe we accomplished a lot. We were glad to be able to work in the Community Center with very little interruption due to it being the day we honor our Veterans.

It was also the day of the Firemen's Chili Cookoff, and people were busy using the Community Center's industrial-sized kitchen to cook for the event. Much of the day we were graced with delicisou aromas coming from the kitchen. Mayor Jay Kramer's wife Alla was one of the cooks, and she and her daughter popped in and took a quick peek at the mural, checking out the portrait on Panel #1 of Mayor Kramer.

We painted almost non-stop all day, even eating our lunch by the murals. Dawn worked on Panel #5, Christine worked on Panel #6, and I continued working on Panel #2, also tweaking Panel #1 a bit as its pines segued onto #2.

Pictured below is Dawn's Panel #5, in which she has added more lush vegetation, with some commonly-seen railroad vine meandering onto the beach. She has also blocked in some critters and bathers and tweaked at various places. Children are so busy with their castle that they don't see that critters are coming to life on the panel and taking all their Oreos!

Dawn Mill's Panel #5, Dunes and Beach along A1A

Following is Christine's Panel #6, which pictures some of the wonderful images that can be seen along Vero's beach and underwater along Vero's spectacular coral reef. Colors are getting more and more vivid as she layers the paint to bring out the actual brilliance of the beautiful underwater ecosystem.

Panel #6 by Christine Thomas

Below is an enlargement of the corner of Panel #6 that Christine has been working on all day. Critters just seem to be having a good ol' time checking out the diver (Mel Fisher) who has just discovered some treasure (which incidentally to all you out there who know nothing about this area ... discovering treasure along the "Treasure Coast" actually still happens--so come visit with your metal detectors, shovels and sifters!)

Detail of Christine Thomas' Panel #5

Below is my Panel #2 which today I concentrated on the central left side, pine forest mostly, and segued onto Panel #1 the pine tree, partially obscuring the top edge of the Furniture Building on Panel #1. Also added is the oak tree towards the middle of the panel. Eventually there will be much more strubbery, palmettos and scsrubs along the pathway and onto panels #1 and #3, with critters meandering their way around the canvas and breaking up all that green.

Detail of Panel #2 with segue onto Panel #1

Together all six panels look fabulous lined up along the Community Center wall, although now we try not to drag the ones out that we are not working on because of their bulk and the risk of too much shuffling them around doing possible damage to the vulnerable canvas covering.

In depicting the different ecosystems of Vero Beach, the viewer must realize that although the panels segue onto each other for aesthetic appeal, no critical eye must insist on the total sense of it all, as perspective has had to be compromised in order to create the most interest, appeal and inclusion of the plethora of flora an fauna that Vero Beach has in its environment. Obviously, we have heretofore condensed the various ecosystems of Vero Beach. In the real world these critters would be having dinner at the expense of each other, and the landscape and seascape elements would not compete so closely.

With the holiday closing in on us, we were hoping the mural would have been completed by now, but fine works of art take time! We keep moving the deadline along according to our progress, and we are determined not to compromise quality. This project has been one of discovery for the three of us in that we have discovered the abundance of beauty and diversity in Vero's ecosystems, the interesting and exciting activities for humans to enjoy here, and the teamwork, steadfastness and friendship that we've developed in working so closely and so long on such a worthwhile project for the City and for the Vero Beach Art Club. Although we are anxious to have our spare time back again and our personal projects and obligations are wanting for attention, the long days of creating life from nothing on a flat woven cloth with some brushes and paint, with friends, has become an integral part of each week for us, and there will be a void in our lives once the mural is completed.

Merana Cadorette, Artist Extraordinaire coming onboard!

NEWS BREAK! Merana Cadorette, artist extraordinaire, will soon be joining us. One of the earlier muralists on the year 2001 panels, she will help us by tweaking the older panels which will make them more aesthetically appealing to the eye. The 2001 mural is spectactular on its own and will not be altered, only the informational insets will be moved to another location in the room and new insets will be painted by Merana to better complete the theme of those panels. We are so-o-o-o grateful for her help on this, and who better to do it than the original artist?

Well, that's all for now, keep an eye on this blog because it's going to be filled with surprises and excitement!

Regards,
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project
Vero Beach Art Club
http://www.verobeachartclub.org/

November 7th, our 43rd Mural Painting Session

2011-11-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

Vero Beach's own Alma Lee Loy, gazing at her image in the mural.

So now on to the day's accomplishments. On Panel #6 Christine added some interesting brain coral and fan coral, and enhanced the octopus and added a couple more tentacles to him. Vero's coral reef which she is currently working on is sure to end up looking like a beautiful magical kingdom which the children will love. Christine also tweaked other elements of her Panel #6. "Tweaking" is a compulsion that hits all three of us inbetween actively creating new elements. It urges us to take a quick few minutes to improve upon something previously painted. Sometimes it's not just "tweaking," as we discover we've finished painting something that is completely out of perspective or off-color, forcing us to re-examine and repaint.

Christine Thomas' Panel #6

Panel #2 of mine posed some compositional problems, however by the end of the day I was satisfied with my progress, although it's never quite as good as I hoped it would be. Painted in today was the eagles' eggs, a couple of new hammocks with palms and pines, lots of bushes and scrub, and began narrowing the sandy pathways. Lots more shrubs, vines and palmettos will soon be added.

Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

At 4:20 we packed up, carried the panels into the Florida Room where Dawn will be painting on Tuesday. Next painting session for Christine and I will be Friday, so visit this blog after that to see what progress we've made.
Ciou!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

November 4th, our 42nd Mural Painting Session

2011-11-05T23:14:00.000-07:00

Panel #6 by Christine Thomas

Dawn's panel #5 has really come together, with only a few more elements to go. Looks like you could just walk right into the panel and jump in the water! Fabulous job with all that architecture too.

Dawn Mill working on panel #5

Pictured below is our work space, with plenty of ceiling room for us to raise the panels up in order to work on lower areas of the mural. Pictured in the background is the 2001 mural Dawn Mill worked on with several other artists for the Vero Beach Art Club. This photo shows Dawn sitting back from the mural, sizing up perspective, color and composition, a process which occurs constantly while we are painting. Due to the largeness of it all, it is very easy to lose track of perspective, and we need to always keep in mind that each panel must segue onto and match the others.

Christine Thomas and Dawn Mill discussing composition (old mural pictured in background)

And finally, below is my panel #2, with the Sexton Farm tweaked a bit more, the eagle family painted in, and other background scumbled on.

Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

Monday we will be back to the panels, so check back late Monday night and you may find some new life on the canvas.
Ciou!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

Oct. 24th: Our 39th Mural Painting Session

2011-10-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

Sea Turtles in progress.

Bottom of final canvas with cannon and octopus beginnings.

Dawn is solo painting Tuesday...hopefully Dawn and I will be there together on Wednesday and Judy will bring her little sweetie pie here to see us. Right Judy :)

Christine Thomas

Mural blogger for today.

October 21st, our 38th Mural Painting Session

2011-10-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

Panel #6 - Christine's fishes

Dawn spent most of her day on Panel 5 refining the Driftwood, and working on the foliage at the southwest area of the panel. She roughed in some bathers on the beach, and tweaked other areas. Below is her progress so far

Panel #5 - Back of Driftwood Inn

Dawn's turtles are sure to be a hit with the children also. One of the very special things about Vero, and some other shoreline localities, is the turtle baby march into the ocean. The nests are numerous, and protected by yellow warning tapes. Nesting season is June-August with hatchlings emerging 60 days later during the night time. One must not trapse to the beach with flashlights and interfere with their migration to the water, however a red light will not disturb them and you will be able to see them without stepping on one.

Pictured is Dawn hard at work on Panel #5. We were all in such deep concentration today that long stretches of time went by without a word ... just the quiet sound of brush on canvas (and an occasional "Oops!" or other commonly-used words which are used relieve one's stress, when one of us splattered or spilled paint).

Dawn Mill Painting on Panel #5

I had a great time today, finally into painting some animals again, although I did do lots of work on palm tree trunks, oak trees and I scumbled in brush and treetops on the east side of Panel 2. Tuesday I came in extra and moved the orange orchard and painted in the cowboys on horseback at the Sexton Farm, and finished up the Florida panther.

Panel #2, Florida Panther and Raccoons

And today I painted in the cows in back of the cowboys. Such fun.

Panel #2 - Sexton Farm by Judy Burgarella

Christine had a great suggestion that I paint in an artist painting "en plein air," and also at her suggestion I painted in our dear friend and Gallery colleague Lionel Ogilvie, who loves painting outdoors. He's not finished yet, but his stance is looking a bit like him.

Panel #2 - Artist Lionel Ogilvie paints en plein air.

Also in the beginning stages is a mama eagle guarding her nest. There will be eaglebabies in there somewhere at a later date. Mama eagle needs to be enlarged though which will have to wait.

Panel #2 - Mother eagle watching over nest

Next week there may be no postings, as some previous commitments have come up with some of us, but stay tuned because perhaps Christine will post.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

October 17th, our 37th Mural Painting Session

2011-10-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

Although we are anxious to complete this mural as it starts to encroach more on our time during this our busy season in the art world, the mural has become an integral part of our everyday lives. It creeps into our thoughts during off-time as we pass a nice tree, critter, or anything else we notice that may look great in the mural, or should be in there because it is part of our lives here on the Treasure Coast. We know that when the mural is finished we'll discover many things that should have been painted in. There are so many wonderful places, animals, plants, and things to do here that we would need many more panels to portray it all. Now to the good part ... pictures:

Below is Christine's panel #6, which includes a bit of the beach off Ocean Drive, but mostly Vero Beach's unique coral reef. She has big plans to include many many interesting underwater life forms, and as her research shows there are extraordinary-looking beings that could rival anything you would find in outer space! And oh, the colors. Whatever beautiful colors we have up here in the form of flowers, butterflies, bugs, trees, etc., you will find even more of the color spectrum underwater in the form of tropical fish, coral, and the enless varety of life forms that live in and around the coral reef.

Christine Thomas' Panel #6, Coral Reef, beginning sketches

Below is a close-up of a fish (can't remember what she told me it was) that Christine worked on. The colors and markings are amazing, and it is oh so cute!

Colorful little fish on Panel #6

Shown below show Christine's sketches, the first act of an underwater ballet.

Christine Thomas' Turtle Sketches

Below is a close-up of Mr. Shark ... can't you just hear the background music of "Jaws"?

On Panel #6, Christine's Mr. Shark is coming right at you!

Below is my Panel #2 progress as of the end of the day today. I poked around here and there wherever my passion took me, but the next painting session there needs to be more upper background finished before proceeding to the foreground plants and animals. I just couldn't wait to start that Florida panther though. He is very roughed in, as in my reference picture the panther's position needed to be reversed and I found that very difficult to achieve. So tomorrow I'll arrive with a "flipped" image to paint.

Judy Burgarell's Panel #2, Western Vero

Below I've put the finishing touches on lantana behind the tree stump, refined the strangler fig a bit, and roughed in the Florida panther.

Panel #2, bottom left section

Shown below is the upper left portion of Panel #2, the Sexton Ranch, a Vero Beach landmark and family name that has historical roots in the City. Pictured is a small orange grove, and soon-to-be painted in will be cattle and cowboys.

Sexton Ranch on Panel #2

Tomorrow will be an extra painting day for me. A rough estimate of 250+ hours of painting so far for each of us, not including all the time researching online, in books, libraries, parks, nature centers, etc. We are putting the push on now, trying to see a "complete" date in our near futures. But it's really fun to spend the day painting and collaborating with likable like-minded people. Not a bad way to spend the day.

Ciou!
Judy Burgarella

Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

October 14th, our 36th Mural Painting Session

2011-10-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

Christine Thomas mapping in her final panel, underwater divers and critters

The following picture shows Dawn concentrating on the fencework/porch in the back of the Driftwood Resort on Ocean Drive. Shown in the background are the businesse along the west side of Ocean Drive, rendered expertly by an excellent draftsman. She'll be painting in turtle nests and other critters and more bathers soon.

Dawn Mill painting in the wood work of the Driftwood Resort

Below is Dawn's panel #5, looking more and more like Vero's section of the Barier Island we all know and love. Dawn plans to project all the wonderful things to do and enjoy in this small slice of paradise on panel #5.

Dawn Mill's Panel #5, Ocean Drive, Dunes and Beach

Today I finally got to paint in a critter. Below are a mama and baby raccoon peeking out from a dead treestump which I also painted today. At the base of the stump is a partially completed lantana shrub, one of my favorite Florida wildflowers. The stump will be the perch for other animals and birds, which I will figure out over the weekend. Lots of research materials to pour over.

Judy Burgarella's first critters painted in on Panel #2

Below is pictured today's progress on Panel #2. Also started is a strangler fig scumbled in around the palm tree in the foreground.

Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

Well, that's it for now. Be sure to check this blog out Mondays and Fridays now as each painting session more and more critters start marching-crawing-hopping-flying and -slithering around our canvases!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

October 10th, Our 35th Mural Painting Session

2011-10-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, and created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas (www.innerspacesandouterplaces.com). Examples of artists' work can be found on www.verobeachartclub.org/) The Mural consistes of six stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors are welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.

Today, Monday, we painted in a different room in the Community Center, which worked out quite well. We got a good deal accomplished, and I was very happy with mine today, although I am never completely satisfied and feel I could do abetter job. We all have had false starts, having to revisit perspective, colors, shapes, etc. quite often because of the size of this project. It helps to be able to see it projected very small on this screen, and many times we can pinpoint troubled areas. As I write this it is actually Tuesday evening (I lied), and Dawn and Christine had painted at the mural much of the day so the mural is even farther along than this posting.

I arrived at 8:30, set up everything and got busy repainting the gumbo limbo tree, as we felt the trunk was too short. "Bursera simaruba" is a very complicated and interesting tree, it can grow to 50-60 feet and is very hurricane resistant, sprouts from branches just stuck into the ground, and the gummy, turpentine-scented resin has been used in the in the West Indies for making glue, varnish, liniments, and as a coating for canoes. The aromatic sap is also used as a treatment for gout, while the leaves are brewed into a medicinal tea. Many birds love its fruit. The reddish peeling bark has dubbed it the "tourist tree." I found a beauty living on the Sebastian Community Center property, which I have used as a model for my panel #2.

Below pictured together are Panels #2 and #3, and today some of my work was focused on blending the two together. In the foreground is the beginnings of a dead tree so to make a place for critters, which I am anxious to get to. Way in the back will be the Sexton Farm, along with horses, cattle and cowboys. Things in Paneld #2 look like they're floating yet, as much more has to be painted in to make it look real.

Panel #2 by Judy Burgarella and Panel #3 by Dawn Mill

Below is Christine's panel #4, which segues from Dawn's #3 above. There's a lot of action on this panel--manatees, stingrays and porpoise, oh my! Christine has spend many hours researching her critters and the environment they live in. We hope this mural will be an environmental "gem" that will be used not only as a reflection of all that Vero Beach has to offer, but as a learning tool for schoolchildren. There will be an accompanying binder with a legend and information about each habitat represented, including interesting data about animals, plants and trees, people, buildings and more. Oh, and we have lots of plans for putting stuff in the sky too!

Dawn has progressed greatly on her Panel #5, Ocean Drive and dunes, and after talking to her today she noted that the buildings are just about finished--can't wait to see them. They look fantastic even at this stage. At this point below, however, she had refined the plants and trees adjoining Christine's panel #4, which are starting to come together. Cactus, palms and seagrapes reside side by side to make an interesting and very contrasting collection of plants lining up on the beach. Notice the white tent on the left side--this is to represent "Art in the Park," a familiar sight on certain Sundays at Humiston Park where the Vero Beach Art Club has its monthly show. As a project being totally sponsored by the "Club," it is only fitting they be represented in the mural.

Dawn Mill's Panel #5

At the end of the painting day Monday we put the panels together and just stood at the other end of the room and marveled at our creation. Ah, it is good to be an artist and be able to create your own paradise! (Actually, it's not our own created paradise ... it's what Vero Beach really is!)

Vero Beach Mural, all six panels as of October 10th, 2011

Anyway, it's gonna be good, so stay tuned as we ad many more animals, people, plants, trees and flowers. Hope you enjoyed the view so far.

Regards,
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Projct

October 3rd, our 33rd Mural Painting Session

2011-10-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

Adding trees to Judy Burgarella's Panel #2

Christine has perfected her rendering of a blue crab. Looks like he's going to walk right off the canvas. She also filled in lots of greens and lagoon bottom shadows.

Christine Thomas' blue crab on Panel #4

Pictured below is Dawn's Panel #5, where she has refined the children, and painted in lots of greenery to help her panel seguey onto Panel #4.

Dawn Mill's Panel #5

Pictured below is Dawn and Christine, discussing plants and animals to put in the mural, as their murals segue onto each other's.

Dawn and Christine discuss elements of the mural

I will be missing Friday's painting session, as my schedule is rather tight with two shows this weekend: 1) featured artist at the Artists Guild Gallery, right down the street from the murals (Also Gallery Stroll night, 5-8 pm); 2) Pitching a tent with my art at the Family Jamboree show in the Indian River Fairgrounds Family Jamboree. I'll be anxious to see Chris and Dawn's progress. Stay tuned!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

October 1st, our 32nd Mural Painting Session

2011-10-01T23:32:00.000-07:00

(c)2011 Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill, Christine Thomas

NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, and created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas (www.innerspacesandouterplaces.com). Examples of artists' work can be found on www.verobeachartclub.org/) The Mural consistes of six stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors are welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.
Today Dawn and I painted until about 10:00 when Sue Dinenno, our interviewer, and Bob Barbour, our videographer, arrived to go over the edits. Bob is creating a video for the Mural Project for the Vero Beach Art Club. So we did a run-through first of just voice with quick editing comments, then voice with video, quite a production. I think the video is fabulous, and is sure to peak the public's interest in seeing the finished work in person. Christine arrived just as Dawn and I were finishing up the edits, but Christing did another run-through herself, then we got back to the canvases for a while before stopping for lunch.

Although we didn't have a lot of time to paint today, I managed to readjust the barrier island and lagoon to better reflect perspective of it relative to the mainland, and I segued my Panel #2 with Dawn's Panel #3, rather nicely I would say. I hope to get some trees in there on Monday.

Christine finished her stingray and some other little fishies. She'll soon be painting in a conglomerate of underwater life on Panel #6, following Dawn's Beachy scene on Panel #5.

Below you can see where Christine has added more greenery and fishes to Panel #4.

Christine's Panel #4

Dawn is moving right along on her Panel #5, putting in the surfer and some seagulls stealing cookies! So cute!

Detail of Dawn Mill's Panel #5

Dawn's panel #5 looks almost complete, however she still has lots to do on it.

Although we didn't have a lot of time to paint today, I managed to refine the barrier island to better reflect it's relationship to the mianland, and I painted in a seguey from my Panel #3 to Dawn's panel.

Segueing from Judy's Panel #2 onto Panel #3

Well, that's all for now, Judy Burgarella, Blogger, signing off!

September 26th, our 31st Mural Painting Session

2011-09-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

(c)2011 Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill, Christine Thomas

NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, and created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas (www.innerspacesandouterplaces.com). Examples of artists' work can be found on www.verobeachartclub.org/) The Mural consistes of six stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors are welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.

Got to the Community Center bright and early, Dunkin' in hand, and after setting up Dawn and I discussed my second panel, and what types of ecosystems we should depict. By this time I have accumulated 2 file boxes full of reference material, all neatly categorized according to flora and fauna ID's. All three of us continuously find new images and information to add to our roster of research, and I am realizing that more and more of my time is spent just "thinking" about the mural, and what to put in it. Because we didn't really have a detailed "plan" our creative selves tend to imagine new and exciting things to put into our canvases. So today, after a weekend's rest (and research), we seemed to all come to the canvases with new ideas and a fresh insight.

We hope to add another day, or partial day--Tuesdays 8:00 to 1:00--to our roster whenever we can, as we begin to get busier with in-season commitments and we will sometimes miss our regular painting sessions. Dawn will be teaching classes some of the days, Christine has "paying" jobs to do, and I have show commitments. My work "European Doorways" will be featured in the Artists Guild Gallery for the Month of October, with an opening reception October 7th, 5-8 pm (shameless plug for me!)

Today we mostly moved off of the "comfort zone" sections of our panels, and worked on more blank areas (a scary thing for sure!) Christine worked on stingrays on panel #4, and one I've wrestled with myself--man can they sting! Christine is also working on the layout for panel #6, the ocean/reef panel. There is a lot of preparation that goes into the planning of each panel.

Below is pictured some children that Dawn is working on on her Panel #5. This panel will be alive with people having fun and critters going about the business of their everyday lives.

Panel #5 - Dawn Mill adds children and sea birds to her canvas

Below is a detail of my Panel #2, with cattle ranch, hammocks, orange groves in distance. I have repainted and reshaped the blocked-in sandpaths, plant and grassy areas to better make room for the critters that will be painted in after all the growth has been painted.

Panel #2 - Judy Burgarella fine-tunes horizon elements

For a fresh look at the progress of the whole Vero Beach Mural Project, below I have connected all for you to see. Kindly overlook the color variation and match-up, as it is quite a feat to match them up electronically.

Panels #1 through #6 - side-by-side completed as of September 26th

Well, that's all folks. Dawn is painting at the mural on Tuesday ... I wonder what she's painting? We'll see on Friday, so stay tuned for more postings!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

September 23rd, our 30th Mural Painting Session

2011-09-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

"Action" Clapper

While the camera people were setting up, Jay Kramer, mayor of Vero Beach, and his wife Olive stopped by to see my rendition of his portrait on Panel #1. I was delighted to finally meet him, and they were happy with the outcome of the mural so far. We chatted for a while, and then got on with the business of making this video.

Mayor Jay Kramer looking at himself in the Mural

Pictured below are the videographers making plans for lighting, set-up and background. We artists were impressed at how professional Bob made the whole process, and it was interesting, enjoyable and challenging for all of us. Challenging for us in that we tried to present our answers in a casual yet thoughtful way, conveying confidence, enthusiasm and eloquence in spite of the "posed" questions and a room full of cables, wires, lights and cameras, and many eyes watching us intently.

Production Assistants Susan Webb, Coley Coleman, and Videographer Bob Barbour planning angles, lights, etc.

Finally, the interview process, and pictured below is the actual recording session with Sue Dinenno posing questions to Christine Thomas. Christine has work experience in the radio industry, and so was fairly comfortable in front of the camera.

Rolling the cameras with Christine Thomas's interview

Below is the interview session with Dawn Mill. We all were posed different questions, with runthrough twice, and it will be interesting to see how Bob edits all the different answers and camera angles. It's surprising how you can be posed the same question twice, and the second time a completely different answer comes out!

Rolling the camera with Dawn Mill's interview

Since we had a lot of down time, we discussed the difficulty in getting a good block of time to paint due to he buiding being used by so many other organizations. At this rate we will be giving up our Mondays and Fridays for a long time. Although we enjoy the project and are having a blast together, we need to find another location with some empty space for us to go on weekends and full days to get this job done. It is sometimes frustrating for us to stop, clean up, pack up, and then cart the huge panels into an awkward (and fairly vulnerable) storage area. If we had a place where we could leave our panels, tools and supplies at the ready and available whenever we have spare time to work, it would go so much faster. The setup and breakdown alone takes about 1-1/2 hours out of our workday. Anyone have any suggestions or offers out there? If so, please call me at 772-581-8281 in Sebastian.

In any case, we will get the job done, as we are committed professionals, and we are anxious to get this work out there for everyone's enjoyment ... especially the children. Stay tuned!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

September 19th, Our 29th Mural Painting Session

2011-09-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

c)2011 Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill, Christine Thomas

NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, and created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas. Examples of artists' work can be found on www.verobeachartclub.org/) The Mural consistes of six tretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors are welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.

When I arrived at the mural late today (with Munchkins in hand), the video meeting was already in progress. Our videographer, Bob Barbour, was discussing the interview process which will commence Friday. Sue Dinenno will be the interviewer, and she was there rehearsing her questions with us. It was an interesting exchange of opinions, information and observations. Not to sound trite, but we three--myself, Christine and Dawn--get along fabulously, our painting styles are similar enough that our designs and brushstrokes flow flawlessly into each other's panels, and we just have a good time all day painting. In fact, we lament when it's time to go, and wish we could paint into the night once we get our "mojo" going. And what in the world are we going to do with all that extra time when it's over? (A-HA! PAINT!) There will be a new mural project starting up soon on the corner of 60 eastbound and Route #1, (also sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club) and I hope they enjoy their painting and comaraderie as much as we do.

Now on to the mural. Since the meeting took so long, and we had some visitors, and setup takes 45 minutes or so, we got very little accomplished in the morning. Then it was lunch, so we hopped in my car and cruised Old Dixie looking for someplace to eat, then we came upon Kountry Kitchen at 1749 Old Dixie Highway. Cozy breakfast/lunch-type place, very casual dining but good wholesome food. Christine had the chimmychanga which was delicious, and Dawn and I had the double-decker BLT, one of the best I've had. So now we are food critics.

My friends (and next-door neighbors) Julianne and Mike Konopacky stopped by to check the progress of the mural. They offered to take some photos that I can use in the mural, which was very generous of them. Barry Shapiro, owner of Lighthouse Art and Framing http://www.lighthouseartandframing.com/ stopped by and marveled at the progress and beauty of what had been completed so far. Besides his busy life as a business owner, he volunteers generously for the Vero Beach Art Club, and is a staunch supporter of the arts.

I digress again. So Christine spent some time looking at research images (as did I), and finally found herself a cute little crab, which she is working on below with Panel #6. She was not happy with her rendering, which is common for her--she is her own worst critic and has no need to be. Her panel is absolutely delightful, and proof of the fact is that the children who saw it today as we were closing up, said they liked the manatees best. Children are drawn to the mural like a magnet, and we hope to have the finished product very child-friendly, amusing and educational. There will be a legend binder that will contain all kinds of information on the animals and vegetation pictured within the mural. Once the mural is completed we will work on the legend. As you can see below, Christine's palette and apron is a MESS! But then, so are mine and Dawns. In fact, we almost always have paint on our hands and clothes, and since this project I have accumulated a closet full of clothes with odd color splotches on them. Ah, the life of an artist!

Christine Thomas working on her cute little Crab on Panel #4

Dawn is moving right along on her panel #7, roughly mapping in some greenery, seagull, and layering in children building a sandcastle. She will be painting in some turtles and other creatures found in and around beach dunes, and adding many people enjoying the exquisite vacation-like environment that is our beautiful shoreline.

Dawn Mill working on her Panel #5

Below is my panel #1, which seeing it again seems almost like watching paint dry. You can hardly tell what I did on it today, with all those interruptions and it being a short day too because of having to pack up for the room's next occupant. But if you look really close you'll see that I've moved the street on the left (21st Street) farther from the edge of the canvas to make room for the Alma Lee Loy Chamber of Commerce building near the tracks. I've scumbled in some roofs and buildings just above what will be Route 1, painted in a window with green awning, Added rooftops to the buildings, and narrowed down Route 1.

Panel #1, Downtown Vero Beach by Judy Burgarella

My mind was distracted today though, after having received a fresh picture last night of my 2-month-old granddaughter Salem, who lives in California with her mom and dad. Our first grandchild, and probably the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. Below is roughly scumbled in renderings of Rita Ziegler, my buddy and the president of the Vero Beach Art Club, and myself on the right, pictured thinking about my adorable granddaughter so far away. (I just had to figure out a way to get her into this blog. Now to figure out a way to get her into the mural!)

Detail of Panel #1 Downtown Vero Beach. "Judy thinks about her granddaughter, Salem"

Dawn will be painting again tomorrow, and I just may join her, depending on how ambitious I feel in the morning. Perhaps I'll just stay home and use the time to map out my panel #2, western Vero woodlands. If not, check back on Friday when I will surely post that day's progress. Hopefully Panel #2 will be pretty well mapped out. Stay tuned!
Regards,
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

September 16th, our 28th Mural Painting Session

2011-09-17T00:43:00.000-07:00

(c)2011 Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill, Christine Thomas

NOTE: The Vero Beach Mural Project is being Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club (http://www.verobeachartclub.org/ ). Created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella (http://www.burgarellaart.com/) Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas. Consistes of six tretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.
Our buddy Dawn is finally back from vacation, and we're rarin' to go! By the time I arrived she was already with paintbrush in hand, working on Panel #5, Dunes and Beachside. I spent some of the morning organizing my reference material, gathering all my photos of the Theatre Building, which will be one of the focal points of Panel #1. Christine reworked her otters and other fishies, making them even more luminescent.

Early in the day, Bob Barbour, our videographer, (http://www.bobbarbour.photoshelter.com/ and
www.eyesforlight.com set up complicated and voluminous video equipment and began rolling tape on us. he even brought in his video track and boom. He's really working hard, and is volunteering his time and talent for this project on behalf of the Vero Beach Art Club. The public should know that the VBAC members and its volunteers are constantly looking for ways to use their creative resources for public good and for the enjoyment of the community, in addition to satisfying the creative needs of their membership. Yes, it is good to be a part of a body of people busying themselves with delightful projects and meaningful endeavors. Enough of this dribble, now to get back to the business of the blog:

Photographer Ed Drondoski came by to take pictures for Indian River Magazine, at the behest of Willi Miller who writes for that magazine and other publications, in addition to covering the arts in "Arts Spotlight" for WQCS radio. Ed was excited at the colorful panels, and how photogenic they are and will probably look fabulous in the magazine with all that color. After he left we walked over to Tea and Chi (http://www.teaandchi.com/) and had a wonderful lunch--tasty pork sandwich, fabulous salad and really good blueberry pie. Owner Maria Sparsis walked back with us to see the mural and was very impressed, which always makes us feel good. I will be putting a bit of "Tea and Chi" in panel #1.

Below is Dawn working on Panel #5. She sketched in some children making a sandcastle, and will be putting lots of other people and critters in this panel, along with a nice abbreviation of the backside of Ocean Drive.

Dawn Mill painting on Canvas #5

And below is the whole of Dawn's Panel #5. She has added more greenery, and you can just about see a white tent which will be representing the Vero Beach Art Club's "Art in the Park" shows that are held monthly during season. If you look closely you may recognize the back of Gloria Estefan's elegant Costa d'Este and the the ever popular Driftwood Inn.

Dawn Mill's Panel #5, Dunes and Beach

Pictured below is Christine Thomas working on her very lifelike and colorful fishies again. She is becoming very knowledgeable of the ecosystems she is painting.

Christine Thomas working on her fishes on Panel #4

Pictured below is me working on the Theatre Building arches and foyer. Today I finished up Mayor Jay Kramer's (in photograph taped to panel) suit, shirt and tie, and at the insistence of Christine I enhanced his cleft chin!

Judy Burgarella working on the Theatre Building archways

Pictured below is Recreation Director Rob Slezak, carrying one of our panels over to his office on the other side of the building. Because the Florida Room is constantly being let out to other groups, we must put them out of harm's way, which is what Rob has to do for all six panels every Friday. Other days we tuck them into an alcove and keep our fingers crossed that no harm will come to them during group activities.

Rob Slezak, Recreation Director, carrying panels to safety

The three of us are making progress, albeit a little slower than we'd planned, but we hope to have some opportunities to step it up a bit and squeeze some extra time in here and there. Next week I will get serious about mapping out Panel #2, so stay tuned!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

September 12th, Our 27th Painting Session

2011-09-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

Selection of Panel #1 by Judy Burgarella. Pictured is Sue Dinenno and Phoebe

Selection of Panel #1 by Judy Burgarella

Panel #1 by Judy Burgarella, "Downtown Vero Beach"

Christine was having fun today working on new fishies she'd found on the internet and fine-tuning the Manatee sign. Her panel looks as if you can just walk into the water and shake hands--er, fins--with all those cute little (and big) critters. She is an excellent faux painter too, as I visited an establishment where she faux finished the terazzo floor with marble and a tile-looking Celtic symbol--outstanding! So below is her panel, #4, and following that are close-ups of what she worked on today.

Christine Thomas's Panel #4, Indian River Lagoon

Selection of Christine's Panel #4, with Red Snapper and friends

Selection of Christine's Panel #4, cute little yellow-ish fishies!

Selection of Christine's Panel #4, Manatee sign

We had to pack up at 3:30, and lamented about how much we wanted to stay longer. Are we getting addicted to this mural? Something's happening, because once we start painting we don't want to stop. As we get farther along, it is taking on a life of its own and we are connected personally with each element of our creations. Well, I guess there are worse things to be addicted to. Visit our "addiction" again on Friday for more news of what's new, and especially whatever Dawn has painted on hers!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

September 9th, our 26th Painting Session

2011-09-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

Vero Beach Mural Project Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club (http://www.verobeachartclub.org/ ) Created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas. Stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.Today there was just Christine and myself, as Dawn is still on vacation. There was a tremendous downpour in the afternoon and we were glad to not be a part of that. By the time we left at 5:00 it had stopped.

We got set up and discussed elements of the mural, then got busy. Christine painted in a couple of extra divers then changed her mind and painted them out. This is a common occurrance with this project, one doesn't always know what will work out or not, and sometimes we have to repaint. I'm finding that with acrylic many times it has to be painted over 3 coats in order to get the opacity and depth of color needed. However it depends on the pigment, as some have more opacity than others, and if you mix the right ones together you may only have to paint it one time.

Al Gustav and his wife Mary stopped by so that I could take photos of his beautiful handmade wooden chair and bowls for insertion into a Vero Beach Magazine ad for the Artists Guild Gallery. Doug Bruce of Vero Beach Magazine stopped by also for a moment. Willi Miller, writer and radio personality, stopped by to see the mural again. She is an ardent supporter of the arts, and that is her "beat." Rob Slezak, Director of Recreation Department, whose office is in the Community Center, stopped in periodically and marveled at the newest elements of the mural. Although it seems like progress is slow, each newly painted element helps to bring the mural to life, and adds to its enchantment.

Sue Dinnenno and her friend Theresa stopped by with her cute little white dog Phoebe, so that I could photograph her walking her dog and paint her into the mural. A very fitting tribute to one who is the past president of the Vero Beach Art Club, and has always been so vital and dedicated to the art community of Vero Beach. We lunched together at Beach Bum Bagel (Yumm!) and then got back to work.

Christine Thomas showing Panel #4 to Theresa and Sue, Pheobe (dog) looking on

Below is Christine's Panel #4, which she has been "tweaking," and now is working on the Manatee Zone sign. Christine had been a sign-maker in her worklife, along with other interesting occupations.

Shown below is the lower left portion of Panel #1. Today I enhanced the little tree, fixed Judge Stikelether's neck, hair and hand, positioned Alma Lee Loy on the grass, painted a tree trunk into the edge (leaves lightly scumbled in), and painted a hibiscus (sort of floating in the air ... but hey, it's just a mural!). Actually this panel is a continuation of the large mural painted in 2001, which pictured a hibiscus at its edge, so this is a continuation at exactly the same height. Other enhancements were accomplished also. Next time I will move the street in front of the train to make enough room to paint the new Alma Lee Loy Chamber of Commerce building.

Lower left side of Panel #1 detail, by Judy Burgarella

Not sure if Dawn returns Monday, but we will. Wonder what we wll accomplish that day? Visit this blog Monday night (er, ah, maybe Tuesday) and see!

Judy Burgarella

Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

September 7th, our 25th Painting Session

2011-09-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

Vero Beach Mural Project Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club (http://www.verobeachartclub.org/ ) Created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas. Stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center, in their "Florida Room." Visitors welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.
Monday was Labor Day, so the Community Center was closed. Tuesday and Wednesday I worked on the mural alone, as Dawn is on vacation and Chris had to work on another painting project. Since the Florida Room of the Community Center had been reserved by someone else at 1:30 for both days, I had to pack up and be out by 1:00, which was OK with me as it freed me up to paint my "European Doorways."

Monday Rita and George Ziegler stopped by to check on the progress of the murals. Rita is president of the Vero Beach Art Club, and she and George are old friends of ours from Connecticut. My husband Bob stopped by also, and the four of us chatted untill I escorted them out before my paints dried up. Although it was a short day (8:30-1:00), I got quite a lot done on Judge Stikelether's robe (pictured in the southwest corner of Panel #1), and a few other elements.

The story behind this beautiful robe is that it was made in the early 1980's by Mrs. Leona Smith, of the Brighton Seminole Nation in Okeechobee, Florida, and was custom made for Judge Graham W. Stikelether, Jr. to wear as he presided on the Bench as Indian River County Judge. The robe was made by hand with over 5,000 individual pieces of fabric. The color purple in the robe symbolizes Law and Justce. Judge Stikelether presided over the Bench from 1972 to 1984.

Here is the finished robe. Knowing the importance of symbols in Indian culture, I am curious as to what these beeautiful patterns mean. A research project for another day.

Judge Stikelether's Seminole Robe, created by Mrs. Leona Smith, of the Brighton Seminole Nation

A gathering of important people of Vero Beach, from left to right:
"First Lady of Vero Beach" Alma Lee Loy; Mayor Jay Karmer; Judge Stikelether in his famous Seminole Robe; Highwayman artist Ray McClendon

Panel #1 as of September 7th by Judy Burgarella

I still have some finishing touches to do with that clutch of people, i.e., hands, shoes, highlights, etc. But next session is Friday, and we'll paint for the whole day which should allow me to completely finish the gathering and get Sue Dinneno started on walking her dog. Perhaps I'll have time to work on mine and Rita's faces. Christine should be finished with her project and join me in painting by then. Stay tuned!

Judy Burgarella

Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

September 2nd, our 24th Painting Session

2011-09-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

Vero Beach Mural Project Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club (http://www.verobeachartclub.org/ ) Created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas. Stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center. Visitors welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.
Today there was only Christine and myself painting at the Community Center, as Dawn is on vacation. A rather short painting day, as we arrived a little late and had to leave early because of another group using the room. Bob Barbour, videographer, set his equipment up and ran some video of us painting. Below is Chris, Bob Barbour and a colleague who helped him out.

Bob Barbour fixing video equipment

At noontime Christine and I shared what food we had brought, and were joined by Sue Dinenno, who is going to be in the mural with her cute little dog Phoebe (she will be the gal in panel #1 walking her dog). We ate and chatted a while then went back to the canvas. Inbeween painting, Bob Barbour posed us and rechecked color and lighting and ran more video. Peni Baker, friend and colleague from the Sebastian River Art Club, stopped by with her friend to catch up on the mural's progress. I hope to work on a mural with her for the Sebastian club in the future.

Peni Baker and "friends"

Although there were a lot of happy interruptions, I managed to knock out the lamppost, a tree, some storefronts and palm islands, and spiffed up the archways which still are in need of more work. Problem with architecture is that details are important on such a large work, or everything gets thrown off kilter, and reference photos are essential. Many times I end up leaving the canvas to walk down the street with my camera to shoot more photos as reference, or just to examine a portion of downtown's detail.

Canvas #1 by Judy Burgarella

Below is Christine at the canvas. She is working on her dolphins and the pelican on the sign, and doing touch-ups here and there. Oops--that's not a paintbrush in her hands, it's an Ipod! Christine is very techno-savvy, and brings in her laptop which is a tremendously handy visual tool--makes it quick and easy to locate images of plants and animals, etc. It's on my "must-get" list. Many people are using laptops to set up near their easels so that painting from photos is much easier, and details can be zoomed in upon.

We are eager to see the end-game of this project, so Christine and I discussed coming in Tuesday and perhaps Wednesday, as we are losing Monday due to Labor Day. So we probably will come in one or both of those days to work on the mural.

Christine Thomas working on Canvas #4, Lagoon

We had to pack up early due to another group needing the room. We both lamented that we could have painted another few hours, after just getting our "mojo" going. Once we get unpacked, set up, mix our paints, figure out which elements to work on, it really is a pleasure plying our craft and chatting inbetween. We missed our buddy Dawn's quips and comments though, and hope she is having a terrific time in Alaska. Here's hoping we get lots done before Dawn gets back, and surprise her with some progress. Stay tuned for more next week.
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

August 29th, our 23rd Painting Session

2011-08-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

Vero Beach Mural Project Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club. Created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas. Stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center. Visitors welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.
It looks like today we all got a lot done, however appearances can be misleading. What really happened is that we slopped a lot of paint really fast on the remainder of the white canvas. Then we stepped back and took a look ... and WALLAH! What a difference, and what a welcome relief to see one panel segueing onto another, albeit somewhat rough in spots. However, we could tell that we were on to something, and we were proud of what we saw so far.

At about 9:30 Dawn's phone rang, and it was Christine saying she had gotten broadsided when leaving her development. After she settled the necessary phone calls and paperwork of the accident at home, she hobbled in to paint with us ... and tomorrow is her birthday too. We gave her lots of sympathy, took her to lunch, toasted her birthday along with Dawn's pending trip to Alaska, and got back to the canvases. Christine had aches and pains, but she's a real trouper and pushed on.

Today Sue Dinenno stopped by with Pheobe, her cute little white fluffy dog, and Bob Barbour, photographer/videographer who will be doing a 7-minute video about the mural for use on U-Tube and TV. His set-up is so complicated that it took him quite a while to get it all ready, but the end result was spon-on professional. He will join us for several weeks until he gets enough footage to get started.

Below is Panel 1, my panel, which I did little on except start painting the Barrier Island shrub middle-value color, worked on the beach of the Indian River Lagoon, and put grapefruits in the boxcar. Also worked on the rails and grass.

Panel #1 by Judy Burgarella

Panel #2 by Judy Burgarella

Next is Panel #2 below is also my work. I was so tired of seeing a white canvas that I grabbed my 2-1/2" brush, slathered it up real good with diluted green paint, and in a painting frienzy slapped it all over the canvas, leaving openings for the sandy pathways. I was having so much fun that Dawn decided to do the same, and so her and Christine proceeded to cover the remainder of their ocean on Panel #6. We all stepped back and felt very satisfied with our progress for he day.

Panel #2 by Judy Burgarella

Below is Panel #3, which is basically completed. Beautiful job by Dawn Mill, and we're glad to show off at least one completed panel.

Panel #3 by Dawn Mill

Panel #4 by Christine is just getting better and better. She is really putting personality onto those critters, although she only had a little while to actually paint.

Panel #4 by Christine Thomas

Panel #5 below is starting to "feel" like Vero's beachside area. The Driftwood is in clear view now, and you can almost smell the food from Waldo's wafting out over the beachsand!

Panel #5 by Dawn Mill

Below is Panel #6, which Dawn and Christine had been working on together today to get rid of the remainder of the white canvas.

Panel #6 upper portion by Dawn Mill, lower portion by Christine Thomas

Now all six canvas panels are covered with paint, and it feels like a giant step to us. It sure was great seeing it all running together (below), and now we feel confident that this project will be completed at some time, and that it will be beautiful and interesting.

Because of regularly scheduled events at the Community Center, we were packed up and gone by 4:45. For the next few painting sessions it will be just Christine and myself ... maybe we can catch up to that whippersnapper by the time she gets back ... not.

Check us out again, and see how far we get. At first Dawn said to paint in a simpler mural-style of painting, but we all are ending up painting like we do at our easels, which is a slower process. We hope to finish by November, but who knows? Stay tuned.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

August 26th, our 22nd Painting Session

2011-08-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

Vero Beach Mural Project Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club. Created by Artist Volunteers Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas. Stretched canvas panels, 36' long by 8' high, each panel 8' x 6'. Created in and for the Community Center. Visitors welcome to watch the artists paint between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.Today we were very late in getting started. Got to the Community Center about 9:00, but had visitors all morning. Bob Barbour, photographer/video producer and an ardent volunteer member of the Vero Beach Art Club, stopped by to talk to us about making a video to put up on Utube or TV. We discussed angles, clothes, time, editing, etc. Sue Dinenno stopped by to check out the mural, and then Cliff Partlow of Hometown News dropped by to take some pics. It's great to get feedback and suggestions from outside people, as they come to the canvas with a fresh perspective. Cliff had some historical information about people to possily include in the mural, which we will look into.

Left to right: Dawn Mill, Christine Thomas, Bob Barbour and Cliff Partlow

Detail of porpous on Canvas #4 by Christine Thomas

Below is Christine's porpous--ain't he/she cute? We're taking suggestions for names for our critters (mine are yet to be borne of the brush). Petey? Penelope? Paulie? Or something ethnic: Pedro? Paddy? Pablo? Pooja? Plato? This is gonna be fun! Maybe we should get the children involved in naming this cuteypie.

Here's my train so far carrying citrus ... a bit crude yet, just roughed in.

Train detail on Canvas #1 by Judy Burgarella

Below is Dawn at the canvas, refining the back of the the Driftwood hotel. She's got some great ideas for the beach--there will be children, more critters, surfers, fishermen, and more.

Dawn Mill working on Canvas #5

Before we knew it it was lunch, and then I left at 3:00 to get to a meeting and prepare for the Gallery Stroll, which was a smashing success--hundreds of people here in the Downtown Arts District, and everybody had a good time. Hopefully this mural will be advanced enough to be viewable at the next stroll in October.

Monday (tomorrow) is another painting day, and after that Dawn will be gone for a few sessions--maybe Chris and I will be able to catch up to her! Stay tuned.
Judy Burgarella
Blogger

August 22nd, Our 21st Painting Session

2011-08-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

Ocean Drive, and I on my people, which is my favorite part, albeit mighty slow-going. As usual, there was discussion about ideas, additions, changes and images. Although ideas flow all day, they come fast and easy first thing in the morning. We have all made contributions to each others’ panels with new ideas and techniques.

We usually have a few visitors each painting session, and today we had a visitor whom I found out later was the exterminator for the building. He reminded me that he had stopped by last month to see the mural and was inspired by it, and that I had encouraged him to take classes to get jump-started, as he expressed the desire to learn how to paint. Well he brought his Ipod in to show me photos of three paintings he had completed at his first classes, and wow—all that talent was just waiting to come out! Another benefit of doing this mural is to see someone’s inner artist get turned on by it. Children are especially inspired by the mural and really connect with the critters on the canvases.

A reporter from the Hometown News came in today to gather information about the mural for a special piece she’s writing. Friday a photographer will come and take pictures. That is if weather permits. There was much talk today of “Irene,” a tornado that seems to be coming our way. By 4:00 o’clock Rob Slezak (Recreation Dir.) told us it was a Cat #3 already—way bad. Having very little experience with hurricanes, I listened to everything and took Irene seriously enough to start planning for it when I got home. In the six years I’ve lived here the stories we’ve heard about Andrew-Charlie-Jean-Francis would curl your hair, the utter devastation and helplessness people felt in the wake of such fury.

Sue Dinenno (pictured below), former president of the Vero Beach Art Club, stopped by to check out the mural, kibbitz and crank us all up. She will be working on an outdoor mural for the City in the fall when the weather turns cooler. Sue is a tireless supporter of the Club, and the arts in general … and happens to be in the same gallery as Dawn and I, the Artists Guild Gallery in Vero (www.artistsguildgalleryverobeach.com). Christine is a former member, and we all miss her there.

From left, Christine Thomas, Dawn Mill and Sue Dinenno

Below is my Panel #1 again, now with Mayor Jay Kramer and renowned local personality Alma Lee Loy in there, standing next to Highwayman Ray McLendon and Judge Stikeleather. Stikeleather will soon be sporting his hand-made Seminole Indian Robe, which is awaiting a pattern to be painted on it. More tweaking yet to come here.

Panel #1 by Judy Burgarella

Panel #4 by Christine Thomas

Christina’s snorkeler (which she actually painted as herself) is coming to life on Panel #4. She looks fascinated by the manatees in front of her, and has positioned her body in the manner that snorkelers and skindivers do to remain as motionless as possible so as not to disturb or frighten the nearby critters away.

And of course Dawn’s Panel (#5) of Ocean Drive/Beach is shaping up really fast. We discussed her ideas for the different elements she will be putting into it, and it’s just going to be fabulous. The mural seems to be taking on a life of its own, almost taking control of our minds and our brushes, growing ideas and providing the inspiration to continue this very time-consuming project.

Panel #5 by Dawn Mill

If Hurricane Irene comes by these parts this week, we will not be painting on Friday, so no postings. However, if this weather system blows over and there is no rain, be sure to come Downtown here and enjoy the 3D District's (Downtown Dine & Design) Summer Sizzler Stroll. Galleries will be open for your viewing (and nibbling) pleasure, and many businesses along 14th Avenue and beyond will be welcoming visitors and new customers with special events and offers. Come soak up the sights, sounds and aromas of fine food wafting out from the wonderful downtown restaurants. Hopefully, the next Downtown Stroll will include a visit to the Mural Project for the "Strollers."

So buckle down, just in case!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

August 19th, Our 20th Painting Session

2011-08-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

Vero Beach Mural, 8' x 36' on six stretch panel canvases. Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, painted on-site at the VB Community Center by artist-volunteers Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas. Visitors welcome, Mondays and Fridays between 10:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m.

Today for some reason all three of us were tired and unmotivated. We complained about everything and couldn't seem to get our "Mojo" going. We yawned, moaned, painted slowly, and ate donut holes through most of the morning until our juices finally kicked in ... although we still could have used a caffein jumpstart. Had some visitors, heard some complimentary kind words, did some 'splaining about this mural and the old one, blah, blah, blah, but mostly painted-painted-painted. Also, Dawn Mill got a phone call inquiring about doing a video on the project, which helped to get our juices flowing again. Then came lunch, and all of us once again wanting a nap. But anyway, we finally came around again and started getting serious ... until late in the day when we were tired and began thinking up names for the critters in our mural ... some of which cannot be put into print. Ended the day on a silly note ... but these critters in the mural are really showing some life in them, and I can't wait to start mine--if I ever finish this cityscape!

Dawn's buildings along the beach off Ocean Drive, shown below, are spot on! Although roughed in yet, the composition shows that it will be a wonderful representation of one of the most beautiful and revered spots in Vero Beach. Actually, we hope that all six mural panels are representative of the beautiful ecosystems that make up Vero Beach ... including those carved out by human inhabitants. Although we humans have left a "footprint" in the Vero landscape, it's really quite a beautiful one.

Panels #5 Beach and Dunes by Dawn Mill, #6 Coral Reef by Christine Thomas - Buildings along Ocean Drive, rear view

Christine added porposes and a pelican to Panel #4 today ... more cute little critters to the Mural gang! Children that come by just adore these little (and big) critters, and I really think we need to name them--bring them to life so to speak. By the end of this project we hope the mural develops a life of its own, in that it gets people talking about what a wonderful environment we are so lucky to live in.

Panel #4, Lagoon by Christine Thomas

Panel #1, Downtown Vero Beach by Judy Burgarella

Panel #1 (Judy Burgarella-me) is progressing slower than I'd hoped. Perspective seemed to come so easy to Dawn, but the enhanced perspective on my Panel #1 is sure troublesome for me. Funny how little details matter, but I only just recently realized that the sidewalk was brick-colored, not cement. And so that had to be changed, also enlarged. Worked the sign, touched up some on people, and tried to snap pictures of trains going by the building--grabbing my camera to catch a pic through the window while it was going by--quite a feat! There's a really nice red train that I'd love to catch a pic of, but I've seen it go by only once.

So that's it for the day. As I post this on Sunday, tomorrow will be another painting session. Looking forward to it. Stay tuned!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

August 15th, Our 19th Painting Session

2011-08-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

©2011 Judy Burgarella, Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas

Vero Beach Mural Project, 8'x36' for the Community Center. Artists: Dawn Mill, Christine Thomas and Judy Burgarella. Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club

Got to the Community Center about 8:30, and was painting by 9:00. Rob Slezak, Parks & Recreation Director, already had all six panels in place against the wall in the Florida Room. When the panels aren't in place it usually takes us about 45 minutes to set up (and pack up). So it doesn't pay to just drop by and work for a few hours, we prefer to spend a long day and make our time worthwhile. The Florida Room, where we paint, is used by various groups throughout the week, with Mondays and Fridays reserved for us to paint.

Vice Mayor Pilar Turner (above left) stopped by to see the mural today, and expressed her appreciation for our efforts. She marveled at the size of the project and was interested in hearing about the various habitats depicted in the panels. The six habitats in present-day Vero Beach are:

1) Downtown Vero Beach (by Judy Burgarella)
2) The Woodland/Farm area of Western Vero Beach (by Judy Burgarella
3) Swampland (by Dawn Mill)
4) Lagoon (by Christine Thomas)
5) Beach and Ocean Drive (by Dawn Mill)
6) Coral Reef of Vero (by Christine Thomas)

Today we mostly worked on our first panels, Dawn refining her smaller elements with very little yet to go, Christine refining the lagoon floor, adding little fishies, and primping her scuba diver. We worked for long periods of time today in silence which was occasionally broken by chatter about our pieces, a brief visit from a small group of adults and children ... and THUNDER AND LIGHTNING! Sounded like it was coming into the building!

Below is my first and the first panel. It's moving along, but not fast enough for me. I made some progress on the sidewalk, reshaped the grass islands, worked on windows and trim, and shortened the dog-walking lady (dog is yet invisible). Can't wait to paint some critters in mine. The black sky to the left is there because it is a continuation of the old panel which ended with 4th of July fireworks and black sky. I will be reworking this to look more like a passing storm sky, but for now it says as is.

Panel #1, by Judy Burgarella

Panel #2 - no change so not posted.

Dawn's panel (#3) is still being refined, although she probably only has a couple of hours' work left to do on it. She refined the water a bit more, finished a bird, added some greens, and painted her family into the canoe, with herself in the middle. Looks pretty lifelike to me--even down to her red glasses!

Panel #3 by Dawn Mill

Christine worked on the lagoon floor, adding plants, rocks and shadows, and painting light filtering own into the water. She added more fishies and refined others. The children will love her panels, and I can picture them learning about the many wonders in Vero's ecosystem. We plan to create a legend map identifying all the plants and animals in our panels for educational use.

Panel #4 by Christine Thomas

Well, the next painting session will be Friday, and we expect to get a lot done that day ... yeah!
Stay tuned!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

Friday, August 12th, Our 18th Painting Session

2011-08-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

Vero Beach Mural Project, 8'x36' for the Community Center. Artists: Dawn Mill, Christine Thomas and Judy Burgarella. Sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club

Got crackin' at about 9:00 today, hoping to make a lot of progress ... which did not happen. Started gabbing, had some visitors, and found ourselves concentrating more on painting the fun stuff than painting the stuff we should be painting. But artists can be slaves to their passion, and sometimes you just have to follow that to do a good job, AND to keep your creative juices flowing.

Radio personality/writer Willi Miller, a staunch supporter of the arts around the Treasure Coast, and a genuine "card-carrying" fan of local artists visited us today and we all had lunch together. Had lots of laughs and exchanged stories--some silly and some serious--and enjoyed a break from the brush. Left the Italian Kitchen full, fresh and ready to tackle the mural again.

Below, for your enjoyment, are two of our first really almost-completed panels together. It gives us hope that there actually is an end to this project when we look at them. Of course Dawn is moving right along, ahead of us all. Her expertise in composition and her past experience with the 2001 mural has provided Christine and I with the tools we need to do our part of this project.

Panel #3 by Dawn Mill and Panel #4 by Christine Thomas

Christine's critters are just getting cuter and cuter. She is refining and coming up with new ideas all the time, as is Dawn. Since their panels sandwich each others', there has been much collaboration between the two of them, trying to decide angles and elements, colors and shapes so that their panels flow in nicely together. A good deal of our time is taken up with these decisions, both at the painting site and away, and much of our lunchtime is actually discussions about it also. It is good to have the freedom to change our minds and/or rework a section when aesthetics or accuracy calls for it. Critiques of our work and idea contributions are always welcome--we all want this to be the best it can be.

Panel #1 and #2 by Judy Burgarela

Today I needed to work on some people for my psyche's sake, so some work was done on the group to the lower left of Panel 1. Had fun painting Ray McLendon, a local Highwayman and friend, but I still have lots of work to do on him.

Below are the last two panels, in very early stages ~

Last Two Panels, #5 Ocean Drive by Dawn Mill, #6 Coral Reefs by Christine Thomas

As you can see there is still a lot of work to be done. But take a look at them altogether, from the two different angles--it's really going nto be something!

Well, that's all for now. Next painting session is Monday, August 14th ... Stay tuned!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger

August 8th, our 17th Painting Session

2011-08-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

People always have questions regarding this project, so the following will be posted every few days to help new viewers understand the project without looking for it among dozens of posts.
Who: Totally funded by and sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club.
Artist Volunteers: Dawn Mill (artist and project manager), Christine Thomas (artist), and Judy Burgarella (artist and blogger)
What: Vero Beach Mural Project. Six stretched panels each 6' wide by 8' high, totaling 36' long, to be hung in the Community Center.
Where: Community Center, 2266 14th Avenue, Vero Beach, 772-978-4592
When: Artists paint Mondays and Fridays, early morning until late afternoon.

Visit: Best time to view painters at work is 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If visiting, kindly keep it brief so that the painters can get the most out of their day.
Why: For the beautification of the City of Vero Beach; also to be used as an educational tool and in the promotion of the City of Vero Beach.

Felt like we got a lot accomplished today, although Christine could not be there. So both Dawn and I roughly mapped in our second panels, which was a relief to at least start them.

Dawn's first panel is looking just exquisite. She had a minor alteration she had to do near her alligator, but after that all went smoothly. Below is her panel against my second one, and I will be refining the segue as the panel gets further along.

Today, finally I started blocking in my second panel, and below are my first and second panels together. There will be famous landmarks and people in my sections, which I am eager to tackle. It's going to be a real challenge segueing my panel onto Dawn's and trying to match her beautiful techniques and colors ... but that's the beauty part of being an artist--there are always new challenges!

Judy's first and second panels

Below is Dawn's second panel partially blocked in, and Chris's first panel, almost finished. On Friday Dawn will work on segueing them together. Dawn is a master at that!

Christine's first panel adjoining Dawn's second panel

Below are all six panels lined up together. Doesn't look like much yet, but it will be.

All six panels lined up together (#1=Judy, #2=Judy, #3=Dawn, #4=Christine, #5=Dawn, #6=Christine)

This photo does not do the murals justice, they really are starting to come together. Dawn and I brainstormed a bit today and arrived at a terrific solution to the odd-lookin legened sectioned portions of the 2002 panels, one which will not only solve the visual problem, but will tie the whole project together. So glad we have those extra panels! We will set that process in motion right away.

Well that's all for today. We'll be painting again this Friday.

Judy Burgarella

Blogger for

The Vero Beach Mural Project

Vero Beach Art Club

August 5th, our 16th Painting Session

2011-08-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

Well, the Vero Beach Art Club conducted its monthly meeting last night at the Community Center. Since I had a class that day in Sebastian, by the time I arrived the panels had been set up at 4:30. We painted for a while, and about 5:00 people started filtering in to set up the buffet etc. The chatting began and we were once again surrounded by all our buddies in the Club so we finally left our panels for the food line. Great buffet as usual, fully provided by Club members bringing in covered dishes. These summer meetings are really special, in that it is more social and less formal ... and ends up being a fantastic buffet dinner, created by the most creative people on the Treasure Coast! (For those of you out there on the world-wide-web, the Vero Beach Art Club is not your "grannie's" club--it has a membership of over 400 people, many of which are hard-core serious artists! The VBAC's "Under the Oaks" outside tent show which was voted the #1 art show in Florida, attracts over 80,000 people over a weekend in March, among other exciting and successful shows; it funds scholarships, VBMuseum activities, civic beautification and much more. It is operated by extremely savvy volunteers, and our beloved Office Administrator Christina Tascon )

It was expected that we would talk a little about our project some time during the meeting, but as it turned out this meeting was focused mostly on our situation with the Museum. There even was no time for "Show and Tell" or other business. However many people commented on the mural's progress, its beauty and creativity, and on our efforts which was greatly appreciated.

And so today we started out at 8:30 a.m., and worked through the day, taking a lunch break at a cafe. There are long periods when no one is talking, except maybe to ourselves, and then one of us makes some kind of wisecrack and off we go! Silliness is good for the soul. We're a good trio, and of the same mindset and humor. Our painting techniques compliment one another, and no one is averse to constructive criticism--we all want our panels to be the best they can be. But now Dawn's panel ... well, I think it's the best it can be. See below

Dawn Mill's First Panel, almost finished

Dawn is almost finished with her first panel. Just needs a bird here and there and a little tweaking in the foliage. This posting does not do it justice--it is stunning, and I can't wait to see what she does with the next one. My first and second panels adjoin each other, and the second panel segues into this panel of Dawn's ... talk about intimidating!

Christine Thomas's First Panel, 75% finished

Christine Thomas's whimsical panel is really starting to take shape. I don't know how she did it, but her stingrays are so cute you just want to kiss them! She is increasing her lights and shadows now, and adding more fishies. This is one the children will be excited about.

Judy Burgarella's Panel, 33% finished

And this is my panel, as you can see I have a lot to go to catch up with Dawn and Christine. However there are no deadlines and Dawn will help me finish if necessary. At last night's meeting, Marena Cadorette, who was one of the Mural Artists of the 2002 Mural, commented that the right side of the Vero Furniture buiding's perspective was too harsh. After carefull observation I felt she was right, and so today I changed the angle to one more pleasing to the eye. It did result in my having to change the perspective of the windows which took some time also, but it's done (sans a little more teaking which I'll leave for another time.

So today I finished up on the palm trees, the hibisus pot, worked on the people and moved the train down to make room for some of Route 1 buildings. This is a very complicated panel but it should be worth the effort.
Now to relax this weekend, and mull over the wonderful reference material that Kathy Steiger loaned us (Kathy created the beautiful mural that hangs in the Indian River County Library--go see it!).

Monday August 8th will be the next posting--Stay tuned.

CIOU!

Judy Burgarella http://www.burgarellaart.com/

Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

Vero Beach Art Club

http://www.verobeachartclub.org/

August 1st, Our 15th Painting Session (+ Aug 2)

2011-08-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

Who: Totally funded by and sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club.
Artist Volunteers: Dawn Mill (artist and project manager), Christine Thomas (artist), and Judy Burgarella (artist and blogger)
What: Vero Beach Mural Project. Six stretched panels each 6' wide by 8' high, totaling 36' long, to be hung in the Community Center.
Where: Community Center, 2266 14th Avenue, Vero Beach, 772-978-4592
Why: For the beautification of the City of Vero Beach; also to be used as an educational tool and in the promotion of the City of Vero Beach.
Timeline: Artists paint Mondays and Fridays, early morning till late afternoon.
Visit: Best time to view painters at work is 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If visiting, kindly keep it brief so that painters can get the most out of their day.

Blog: It's kind of hard to see any detail in most of the photos we've posted, so I am presenting some details for you. First is Christine's, which as you can see she is expert in all things under and above water. She is having a ball--as we all are--seeing those fishies come to life.

Lower left side of Christine Thomas's panel

As for Dawn, well that goes without saying that ALL her details are worth posting even now at this early stage, however I am posting my favorite detail of her panel.

Dawn Mill's panel, lower right

And as for me, since I am so far behind because of my trip, I snuck in to get an additional painting session in Tuesday, 8-1:00. I had hoped to have more done, as the Vero Beach Art Club will be having their monthly meeting Thursday here in the Community Center. Below is a detail of my panel. It does't look like I got a lot done, but I am finally over-the-hump with the annoying little details of the Vero Furniture building. Couple more hours on that and the critical details of the building will be done and i can move on to what I enjoy most--painting people!

Judy Burgarella's panel, lower right

Well, that's it for now, until Friday.

July 29th, our 14th painting session

2011-07-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I missed six painting sessions while I was away in California awaiting the birth of our first Grandchild, so catching up to Chris and Dawn is going to be hard to do. Chris posted some of the painting sessions while I was away, so this blog is almost up-to-date. Baby Salem was born July 11th, and here she is--the prettiest flower in my garden!

Baby Salem

Now back to the mural. I was dazzled by Dawn's progress and the imaginative elements of her panel. The closer you look the more you see. The colors and wildlife in it are outstanding, and the landscape is just beautiful ... and very peaceful. This is an excellent abbreviation of what are the the "jewels" of our portion of this paradise.

Dawn's Panel

We three are becoming very inspired with this project and are trying our best to portray the attributes of this area.

Following is Chris's panel, and did she nail those manatees!! She was having a ball painting in all those little fishies. Chris puts a lot of effort into her research, which has paid off well in the beautiful and interesting elements of her panel. She's a pro at painting marine life and other critters, and she also brings to the project years of experience with murals and excellent handling of the paints and equipment used in creating large works on a variety of surfaces. And thanks again Chris for blogging for me!

Christine's Panel

Although by the end of today's session I was happy with the way my building was starting to "pop," I have lots to catch up on. Missing 40 to 50 hours of painting leaves me trailing behind. And next session (Monday August 1st) I can't avoid it any longer--I must tackle that darned Vero Furniture buiding facade architecture--eugh! Such a complicated entryway!

Judy's Panel

And if you're looking for an orderly progression of this mural you won't find it here. It is such a large project, and such a long day (usually 8-8:30 to 4 or 5), that in order to keep ourselves interested and inspired we tend to paint whichever part of the panel strikes our fancy, thereby keeping our "juices" flowing. We are now really starting to see it come alive, and our inspiration for the project is reflected in the quality of the progress. The day goes by so fast that we usually aren't ready to quit at quitting time. However there is such a mess that we have to remember to save some energy for clean-up. See the mess below?

Messy, messy, messy!

This is such an exciting project, I can't wait to see it finished and to share it with the Town of Vero Beach and surrounding communities.

Following is a picture of the Vero Beach Community Center on 14th Avenue, in case you've never been there. The marquee out front lists some activities within and around town. Locals and visitors should keep an eye on the marquee for interesting upcoming events.

Vero Beach Community Center

Community Center Marquee

Well, that's it for now ... I'm posting this on a Sunday evening, and tomorrow's already another painting session! G'nite!
Judy Burgarella
Blogger for the Vero Beach Mural Project

July 11th & July 15th, Our 9th and 10th Mural Painting Sessions

2011-07-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Judy and Bob who became new Grandparents on Monday, July 11th. We welcome their new granddaughter and anxiously await her photos!

I am combining our days here on our blog, they are starting to blend together like our paint and our canvases. All of our canvas panels need to flow into each other to keep continuity. It is a challenge going from one to another, but actually fun to come up with ways to create that flow.

The Community center summer campers were pretty quiet today, just a few little heads popping in every now and then. Dawn did have a couple of her students stop in, Bill Sweet and Joseph A. Gomez. They both said watching us paint was like getting a free lesson. Both great guys giving us wonderful encouragement.

Friday July 15th was a very quiet day, Dawn and I would have loved to have painted on for hours more, but our legs and backs let us know when it is time to clean our brushes, along with Rob Slezak, he always drops in to see how much more time we need, and generously gives us a little more, and a little more....then he carefully lifts our panels off to 'hide' them for the weekend. The Community Center has numerous activities going all the time, from our beloved campers, to dance classes and weddings etc, plus this weekend they are even hosting a 'garage sale'. Then on Monday our canvases appear again, no easy task being 8' high and 6' wide. It was definitely a comedy act when we first tried to move them ourselves.

We are progressing nicely, Dawn adding 'creatures' while I am about finished with my manatee family. Now I am on to the lagoon fish, grasses, dolphins etc. We look forward to Judy's return...we miss you!

I would like to thank Kathy Staiger for generously lending us her wealth of research material, and Lionel Ogilvie for sharing his knowledge of fish. I am learning which fish are in the Indian River Estuary and which are in the ocean. Keeping all the plants, animals and fish accurate to their location is no easy task, we a fortunate to have artists, friends and professionals in assorted fields assisting us.

Well, here we are at the end of our 10th session, weighted down by the accoutrements of our trade, we have turned into the Bag Ladies of the Arts, otherwise known as BLA....yeah I know bla, bla, bla. :)

Christine Thomas, BLA Blogger

July 8th, Our 8th Mural Painting Session

2011-07-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hi, Christine Thomas signing in to the 'mural blog'. I am filling in for Judy Burgarella while she and Bob are in California awaiting the arrival of their first grandchild. As of Sat. evening...no baby yet!

Above are the photos from our session on Friday. Mary Powell, Sr. Administrative Assistant at the Community Center admires Dawn's panel. Rob Slezak the Director of Vero Recreation looks on. This project got underway thanks to the urging of Rob. We thank you Rob! We are having a ball. (Sorry for the weird spacing, haven't figured the settings out yet :).

Above, Jackie Schembri stopped in for a visit, Jackie is a fellow artist and a student of Dawn's.

Followed by Laurie Lee, Community Center Coordinator and Gaby Dwyer, Recreation Tennis Superivisor who are checking out the manatees I am painting on the Indian River Lagoon panel.

We love having artists, friends and the public visit to view the progress of our work.

Even with all of the visitors Dawn and I got busy with our panels, grateful that we were going to have a very productive day. We thought it was going to be a quiet day since my grandson headed back to North Carolina on Thurs., though we did miss his silly slimey sludge, humor and paintings, and the help he gave us putting everything away at the end of the day. (Thanks Noah!)

Quiet it wasn't....the atmosphere and energy at the Vero Beach Community Center suddenly changed, the summer 'campers' had arrived, full of energy and song. This was Karaoke day! We were serenaded by the music of Lady Gaga, Katie Perry and Justin Beeber, "Baby, Baby, Oh Baby"(hey Judy, I think they were thinking of you). Some of the campers stopped in to see our progress. They are always so enthusiastic about our work and ask plenty of questions. It is wonderful to share with them and hopefully encourage them to paint or create their own works of art. The only problem, I can't get Baby, Baby, Oh Baby out of my head!

Well, this is my first blog posting, I will be back after Monday's session...Hurry back Judy, this is harder than it looks.

Cheers,

Christine Thomas

July 1st - Our Seventh Painting Session

2011-07-02T06:14:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun and productive day for all of us. We finally are getting to the enjoyable process of painting details, although none of us are totally sketched into all of our panels. We decided it was time to have fun and enjoy the process of wielding our brushes into something recognizable.

We found out last night that the mural project had been featured in the Arts section of Vero Beach 32963, with a two-page spread. Yay!

Pictured are the three of us (Judy Burgarella, foreground, Dawn Mill, middle, and Christine Thomas, background) working on our murals. In my haste to get to the fun stuff (it takes 3/4 hour to set up), forgot to put on my painter's apron so went home with paint on my jeans-oops

This is my panel at the end of the day, doesn't seem like much progress but I'll catch up.

Dawn I believe made the most progress today, blocking in and fine-painting the cypress trees and shoreline of her part of the lagoon. During the week she created a dynamite sketch of her next panel, which depicts activities on the barrier island along A1A, and will be presented on this blog soon.

This mural is really coming together, and we're confident it will be something the town of Vero, the Vero Beach Art Club, and of course the artists, will be very proud of.

Pictured is Dawn's panel as of 4:00 pm today. Looks like the water could be rolling right onto the floor, so realistic. And she's got lots more to do on it yet. I can't wait to figure out how to join hers with my hardwood and pine forest. Should be quite a challenge.

Pictured is Christine's panel as of the end of the day. She was really getting into those manatees! You can see above where Dawn's peninsula segueys into Chris's panel, a perfect match!

The coordinating of elements of each panel is for aesthetic appeal only, and is used as a way to join them without disturbing the theme of the painting. At times the geography from one to the other may be totally wrong, but it is appealing to the eye and gets the point across.

Today Christine brought her grandson, Noah, along to spend the day with "Grandma." Noah was a delight, he asked a lot of questions, tried his hand at painting, made himself a fort with the chairs and a bed under the curtains with the exercize pads. He, like his grandma, is constantly creating.

Noah, being a normal active boy, eventually got bored with all this "creativity," and so took out his "Sludge." Something new to me, not having any little children in my life (but a granddaughter coming now any minute!). "Sludge" is a slimey, gooey elusive glob of morphing black goo. Fascinating stuff--should be something we could make out of it. So Noah and I made a quick pass with it, when all of a sudden he threw it up in the air ... and whammo! It disappeared!

This was Noah when it happened . . .

This is Noah now.

Well folks, that's it for now. Christine will be posting for the next couple of weeks, as I welcome a new grandbaby. They may not be working again until Friday, due to the 4th of July. You can stop in any time we're working and take a peek.

Judy Burgarella

Blogger

Sixth Painting Session

2011-06-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I think it's about time to introduce you to the "Other" murals.

First of all, the original mural, created by artists from the Vero Beach Art Club in 1969, and depicts the County of Indian River from 6,000 B.C. to 1969. More details about its creation can be found on the legend panel inserts of the mural. Interestingly, today delivered to me was a photograph of Judge Stikelether, whom I will be painting into the mural dressed in his famous Seminole robe. As his daughter Debbie was reading the original mural she noticed that it was dedicated to the memory of E.E. Carter, a dear friend of Judge Stikelether. And so they will both be joined once again, in perpetuity (or however long the murals exist) in the spirit of this project.

Pictured is the mural created in 2000, also by Vero Beach Art Club artists. This one spans the time of the earliest inhabitants up to the year 2000. Dawn Mill was one of the artists that worked on this mural, mostly the two center panels are of her brush. Her leadership and direction on our current mural has been invaluable. I will write more about both panels some time in the future.

Now to bring us back up to date.

Pictured is Dawn Mill layering more paint on her panel and refining the foliage. She has slightly altered her original design, which seems to be what we all are doing, letting our creative juices flow. Between the three of us, we are constantly coming up with new and innovative ideas to make the murals more interesting, brainstorming inbetween long quiet periods of intense painterly concentration and artistic pleasure. The end project is still a bit elusive to us, but we know it will be exciting, interesting and educational, and hopefully it will help to depict all that Vero Beach has to offer.

Here Christine Thomas is refining the lights and shadows of the water of the Indian River Lagoon. She has sketched the manatee and is about to add another one onto her panel.

Here you can see how Chris and Dawn have succeeded in segueing one panel onto another. After this point they painted in some spoil islands which was just the ticket!

I expected, again, to get much more done these 8 or so hours, but we made some decent progress. Unless we have some kind of push, this project just may take into October. At some point soon, when my new grandbaby is born (due any day), I will be unavilable to post this blog for a couple of weeks, but stay tuned! Next posting, God willing, will be Friday July 1st.

Judy Burgarella, Blogger

Fifth Painting Session

2011-06-25T13:00:00.001-07:00

Today is our fifth painting session. We started at about 8:00 and worked untill 4:30 or so, with just a short lunch. Once we got started we were "in the zone" and did not want to stop.

Michelle Genz of Vero Beach 32963 stopped by to do a piece on the mural. She was amazed at the size of the work, and marveled at the earlier mural, created in 2000. Michelle had never seen the 2000 mural, and expressed that the public should be made more aware of its existence. Hopefully 32963 will help to spread the word about the old mural and the mural work which in progress.

Pictured is how our panels were set up for the day, concentrating mostly on just three panels. I had planned to sketch my second panel in, and did so just briefly, just to segue the dirt pathway connecting to Dawn's panel.

Dawn and Christine today had to concentrate on visually joining their two panels together, making sure the water variations match. There was much talking between them about color and stroke while I mostly concentrated on refining the perspective of Downtown Vero.

Pictured is Christine with her manatee panel in the Indian River Lagoon, finishing up the vibrant colors in the water.

As an experienced mural painter, Christine is always coming up with inventive, creative ways to accomplish her creations. Here she has her brushes conveniently accessible, making a very functional alternate use of a tubular ice cube tray. Also pictured is Christine with her laptop, which she uses to search the internet for images or inspiration in the makings of her murals.

Pictured is Dawn with her panel of the Indian River Lagoon. She and Christine plan to depict in their panels many of the water-related activities enjoyed by Vero Beach residents and guests. Dawn struggled with perspective, as did I, with these huge canvases.

Pictured is the Downtown Vero Beach panel, which is coming along very slowly. I am very surprised at how long it takes to paint these large surfaces. Since I am new at both acrylic painting and mural painting, there is a great learning curve, mostly the knowledge of handling the paint and how to use this medium to cover the canvas. Exaggerated perspective is the goal, however it is proving quite difficult for me to achieve.

I am delighted to be able to put a bit of Seminole Indian representation in the Vero panel. The man in the left foreground will be Judge Graham W. Stikelether, Jr., wearing the Seminole-patterned robe gifted to him by Leona Smith, a Seminole Indian. I will reveal other luminaries included in this panel in future postings, so stay tuned!

June 20th, Fourth Painting Session

2011-06-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

Dawn and I met today at 9:00 to paint. Christine was out of town so it's just the two of us today.
Setting up of the panels, equipment, supplies, references, paints and palettes, etc. takes about 45 minutes, and clean-up takes almost as long. Because of how long it takes to set up and clean up we decided early on to make our painting sessions lengthy. Today we worked all day with just a short lunch break (we mostly bring our lunches) to make good use of our time.

Today I planned to work on refining the Downtown VB panel, correcting perspective and positioning of all the elements, as best I could considering the abbreviation and foreshortening of the architectural scene.
Pictured is a handy method of creating vanishing points with string (per Christine's suggestion). Using the rough painted angles which I created using the gridding technique, I stretched string over the highest and lowest vanishing point angles and secured each end with brown tape. At the point where both strings crossed over each other was the "vanishing point." At each prominent architectural element I stretched another string in place, intersecting at the vanishing point that was created with the first two strings.

With the strings in place, I redrew the angles and architectural elements in a darker shade of brown paint, and roughly whited out the old lines. I repeated this for the other side of the vanishing point, stretching more strings on another panel on the opposite side of the Downtown panel.

As you can see, the perspective elements of the corner building, Vero Furniture, is much more accurate. This process, albeit interesting to do, was extremely time-consuming but will pay off in the end with a finer product. I was surprised at how long it took, which meant I didn't get much done this day. We had a couple of visitors today, people who saw the news of it in the newspaper.
Dawn is pictured here working on her Swamp panel. First she rough sketched a few elements of her scene with vine charcoal, and at this point she is putting down a loose wash of color over the scene.

Dawn had spent a good part of the day refining clouds and assuring the continuity from one panel to another. We also discussed the coordination of my elments segueing onto her panel, which should prove to be a bit challenging but we'll work it out.

There may be a painting session tomorrow (Tuesday) with Chris and Dawn, but I will not be there. We were packed up and gone by 3:30.

So that's it folks, more postings Friday, so stay tuned!

Third Painting Session, July 17th

2011-06-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

Setup for today, with Christine painting the water around where her manatee will be.

On this, our third painting session, Dawn is away so it's just Christine and myself painting for today.
At 9:00 we carried three of the panels from their storage areas to work on them against the mirrored walls of the Florida Room in the Community Center.

Today there was a large group of children playing Bingo in the next room, Christine and I enjoyed hearing their laughter and all of the other sounds of kids having fun ... much better than music to our ears. So we invited them to file through and take a peek. We really enjoyed the questions and enthusiasm, and appeciated hearing from the children how much they love to paint and draw. If only adults knew how important art is to children they would surely not cut creative programs which has historically been the case. Children from every walk of life benefit from this form of expression, and it serves as an outlet for the children, and a mirror into the way they perceive the world around them. Pity that the schools have such little funding art-wise--in our day art was an important part of our school life.

Christine mixes several colors to get that brilliant under-water look. A manatee will soon be peeking out, along with other creatures from the Indian River Lagoon.

Here I am at the canvas, putting in a light wash of greenery and getting some hilights on the waterways. On Monday I will work more on the perspective of my sketch, with a foreshortening-type of technique.

We packed up at about 4:00 o'clock, long day but lots of fun. Next painting session is Monday June 20th, so stay tuned!

Judy B

Second Painting Session, Monday June 13th

2011-06-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

It felt like we accomplished a lot today. Got the skies finished with all clouds and sky color variations in place, sans the planes, birds, parachutists and other things we may be adding later. This first photo pictures the first panel, painted by Judy, which ties into the last panel of the 2001 mural (pictured above the partially-painted panel). The sky segued from a fireworks sky into a stormy sky, allowing the panels to be one day hung together.

Judy began the complicated process of gridding the architecture of Downtown Vero Beach. Problems seem to work themselves out with the three of us providing solution ideas--we sure do make a good team! Dawn, as Project Manager, keeps us on track with coordinating our colors with the 2001 mural for continuity, and Christine brings her "bag of tricks" and experience as a muralist and faux painter. It is inspiring to be working in the same room as the original mural which was created by the Vero Beach Art Club in 2001, and has resided in the Community Center ever since. The earlier mural depicts six historical timelines of Vero Beach, from its first inhabitants up to what was then the present-day Vero. The new mural is being painted in a manner which will allow it to run together with the old one if hung side-by-side, with the first new panel depicting contemporary downtown vero, and on to the end panel depicting Vero's ocean reef. We decided to segue the new mural into the old for any possible future exhibition placing which may position the panels together.

Pictured is Christine Thomas, who prefers working on a ladder to paint her panels' skies. Christine is a professional decorative painter and has extensive experience painting murals. She is a wonderful resource to this project, coming up with ideas and solutions as we progress along.

Pictured is Dawn Mill, who also participated in the 2001 mural, putting her "poofy" clouds on the panels. Dawn segued her clouds onto Judy's 2nd panel, making sure to match the cloud colors of the 2001 mural. Skies on the 2001 mural were painted by local artist Merana Cadorette.

And here I am, Judy Burgarella, the writer of this blog, working on my sky. Since I am not an acrylc painter, this is going to be a great learning process in the use of that medium. As an oil painter, I love the short drying time. Can't wait to see the finished product.

More of each artist's work can be seen on www.verobeachartclub.org in the on-line Artists Gallery.

Well that's it for today!

Vero Beach Mural - First Posting

2011-06-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Vero Beach Mural Blog Journal. We invite you to follow the progress of our mural as we plan and paint our way through all 36 feet of canvas. The mural is being created and will be housed at the Vero Beach Community Center, 2266 14th Avenue, Vero Beach, Florida, 772-978-4592.

Visit this blog frequently for updates and newly posted photographs as we paint. The public is invited to stop by the Community Center to see the murals being created, any time between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Mondays and Fridays (Some Tuesdays also).

The creation of this mural is being sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, 3001 Riverside Park Drive, Vero Beach, Florida 32963. Phone - 772-231-0303, Website - http://www.verobeachartclub.org/.

Our Mission
1. To enhance and beautify our Community Center in the spirit of Public Art
2. To give back to the community, as a 501(c)3 nonprofit
3. To help promote the City of Vero Beach
4. To help promote the Vero Beach Art Club
5. To inspire the community to better appreciate the value of Public Art

How did the creation of this mural come about?
At the request of the City of Vero Beach, the Vero Beach Art Club asked Dawn Mill, who worked on a previous mural for the Community Center, if she would agree to be the Project Manager. Dawn agreed, and asked Christine Thomas and Judy Burgarella for assistance in the design and creation of the new mural.

What will the mural be?
The mural will consist of six panels, each 8 feet high by 6 feet wide, totaling a length of 36 feet. It will depict the six habitats of Vero Beach.

Who are the artists?
Dawn Mill - Project manager, paints primarily in watercolor and acrylic, and is renowned for her tropical landscapes and her teaching skills.
Christine Thomas - Paints primarily in acrylic, and is a professional mural and faux painter.
Judy Burgarella - Paints in a variety of mediums and subjectmatter, and is this blog's author.

All three artists are very active in the art community on the Treasure Coast, helping and exhibiting in shows, galleries, paint-outs, etc.

On this, our first posting, I have pictured the first painting session, although many hours were spent in meetings and at home planning, scheduling and coordinating our time, sketching and researching.

The wide blue band at the bottom is actually the base coat of the sky, painted upside down for easier reaching on the 8' panels. This was painted on Friday, June 10th. Next painting session is Monday, June 13th, 8:30 am sharp!

Since this is my first try, there may be some gliches to be worked out on this blog, but hopefully it will improve as we get farther into the project. Stay tuned!

Dawn-Judy-Christine
Muralists