Mother Ocean Breaks Free

Trompe L’oeil Mural

Avila Beach, Ca

2023

“Mother Ocean Breaks Free”

19x16’ trompe L’oeil mural

225 First st. In Avila Beach, Ca.

I was commissioned to create this mural by a children’s book illustrator/retired muralist and her arts-supporting husband, who were a sheer pleasure to work with. They wanted to do something with this big, blank gray wall. We decided that an artwork that looked three-dimensional, as if it was breaking out of the wall, would suit the surface best.

Every wall is a new challenge… This concrete wall had some “weeping” areas where mineral salts (efflorescence) and rust were traveling through. It took a bit of research and a few different steps to take care of these areas so they won’t affect the artwork in the future. I filled in the surface with a concrete patching compound and an acrylic blocker in the areas where the wall was weeping. I left some weep holes outside of the mural area where moisture can escape.

I tested out different mixes of super saturated Novacolor, since color looks very different on the actual wall than it does in my studio.

I was inspired by the jewel tones of Avila ocean water at its best— different than Pismo water due to the mineral content, even though it’s just a couple miles away.

I did a lot of research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium observing the playful sea otters, Rosa and Selka, and the stunning great Pacific Octopus, who really put on a show when I was there. The other sea life I painted in the mural I have seen in abundance, on my rare freedives at Santa Cruz Island and up the central coast. I can only hope that depicting our beautiful creatures of the sea will inspire others to spend more time in the sea; which is very healing.