There a local coffee shop that just opened in town that contacted me over the summer to do a mural for their wall. I am working it out so the students will paint it. The coffee shop is called Corporal Ray's Coffee, named after their son who passed in Afghanistan. The only requirement is that that Ray, their son, is somewhere in the painting. I thought this to be a little wide open for a 'commission' piece. The mother of Ray and store owner asked me to pray about the project. So I have and I think I finally have an idea worthy.
You are probably thinking, It's just a coffee shop painting. Just do it already. But I really view this as something bigger. Our community is growing and already embraces art in many ways. To me this is a prime opportunity to get the students involved by giving back and draw some major attention to the program. I work at a great school that strives for that academic excellence, but we flat out dominate in sports. So, even though there is support for the arts, it's not enough that parents encourage their kid to take art over another AP class or sport.
I have put a lot of thought into this, trying not to create another cliche patriotic mural. Those are fine, but it would look just like the murals in their other coffee shops or anywhere else. I want to do something that is representative of Ray as a man and their son as well as be a blessing to our community. I ran the idea through the other art teacher, who has been teaching in this district for 35 years. She liked the idea and we talked through it to refine details. Her perspective was very important in this project.
I will post a sketch soon of what I have in my head (working backwards, I know).
Here are the background pics I took for reference. A student borrowed my camera and changed the white balance setting so they all turned out bright blue. I have edited them in BW, but these are just to see which angle I want for the train track.
12.14.16
I put 2 students in charge of the mural project. I told them why I chose them specifically and that once the layout was designed and we begun work on the mural, that I wanted the 2 of them to invite other students in the class to work on parts of the mural. I felt it would create better unity in the group and on the project, rather than coming from me. Really excited about how it is coming along though.
Here is a pic of the background layout:
We have decided to break this up into 3 panels, possibly with the middle panel being wider than the 2 on the side. Corporal Ray will be to the right of the train track in the foreground, looking back to the left. We chose this because he will be facing the kitchen, or bar, like he's looking back at Mom. In the back where you can see the steel gray color, you will see tall silhouettes of soldiers, in different uniforms from different wars. They will be transparent, more like outlines and features only, representing that they have passed on as well and he is on his way to join them. We are also thinking about collage-ing some of the mother's favorite bible verses or even ones that remind her of her son in the sky. We will paint over them and let them show through in areas of the transparent soldiers. We are considering letting areas of the wood show through as well- maybe in the white areas of the train track, etc.
Our next meeting with the coffee shop owner will be the week after school is out.
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