Painting a mural usually requires that I enter someone else's space, usually in a private home, and go there for a week or two or three, as you would go to any workplace. I don't like intruding on people's privacy, so I always try to be as unobtrusive as possible. I work with paint, and that's always worrisome because paints can drip, paints can spill, cats can leap onto wet paint palettes and cause a disaster.
Mindy and Brian were very accommodating, leaving me alone to work in their nursery with the door shut, asking me to tell them if I needed anything, before they went off to their separate work-from-home offices. They had covered their beautiful new carpet with a taped tarpaulin which was very helpful.
At the end of each day of painting, I would ask Mindy and Brian to comment on the day's work. Do you want the stars painted like traditional five-point stars, or would you rather they be shimmering points of light? I would ask. Do you want the two astronauts to have faces or just headgear? Brian wanted one of the planets to have rings as Saturn does. Sure, no problem. I always want clients to be happy with their murals. It doesn't really matter what I like - it's what they want.
It's always difficult for me to stop the painting process, to complete the mural and declare it finished. There are always bits that I want to touch up or change. When I thought I had finally finished painting this mural, I still went back and added some metallic gold and silver highlights, and some other little flourishes.
The very last thing to do was to paint the flag that one of the astronauts was planting on the moon and to write the expected baby's name on the flag. When I started painting the mural, Mindy and Brian had not decided on a name, but by the time I was finished, they had. The baby's name was to be Bryson and that's what I painted on the flag. However, I assured them if for some reason they changed their minds about the name, I would return and repaint the flag with the new name.
Below are images of the mural after it was completed.
