I like to push colors as far as I can while still staying in the realm of realism instead of abstract.
My best friend told me “Your style looks like the magical way we used to see the world as kids, before life beat it out of us.”
I would say that my style is a harmony of realism and abstract. A harmony of Urban Design and Nature. This is why I love painting plants and animals in city-scapes.
Thanks to these incredible clients for supporting my work.
Norman Silos
Norman Arts Council | Griffin Community Park | Norman, Oklahoma
Norman Arts Council were seeking a design that would be bold and recognizable without taking up the entirety of the silos surface area, as this would be very time consuming and expensive. This just happened to fit my personal artistic style perfectly.
I always seem to think I’ve bit off more than I could chew, but find that I always come out on top. Now, that fear excites me. I just want to keep topping my previous works.
I found that projecting and doodle gridding was not a great option for a space that large, especially being CURVED. My projector was barely perceptible once up in the air next to the wall. I was absolutely terrified. I just had to have faith in my abilities as an artist and not have a clean-cut guide like I usually do.
I would say that 90% of the scissortail was free handed and I had to repeatedly go up and down on the lift to check myself. The curves in the silos were also so narrow that we had to use two separate boom lifts to be able to reach in between the curves. Even this was still not small enough so I had to install the “Plank of Death” to stand on and cross my fingers and pray I didn’t fall.
This project was, by far, the most terrifying, exhilarating experience of my life.
The Norman Silos are a long standing landmark for the City of Norman since 1915, where it was once Central State Griffin Memorial Hospital’s farm, which was sought to be revitalized. This project was able to happen thanks to the Norman Forward Quality of Life Initiative.
The silos include 2 murals on the East and West facing walls. Depicting Oklahoma’s State Bird and Flower: Scissortail Flycatcher and Rosa Oklahoma, (Hybrid Tea Rose) along with the Oklahoma State Mammal and Wildflower: American Bison and Indian Blanket (Haillardia pulchella)
