I’ve got this terrible mural client. She doesn’t know what she wants, she keeps jumping from idea to idea and giving me inspiration photos that have nothing to do with each other… it’s exhausting. Did I mention the client is me? Lol. Le sigh.

This is the problem of designing for yourself. With anything, really. As artists we’re our own worst clients sometimes. All that to say, I’ve been playing with mural ideas for my front retaining wall for months. MONTHS. But I think I finally have something pinned down that I really love.

When we bought this house we’d intended to fix it up and sell it, but plans changed and we’ve been living here for five years now. So some of the early decisions I made, design-wise, were more tame than my current style. But now, I’m really wanting to lean into a creative, artistic, and bold vibe for the house as a whole, and while most of the interior reflects that, I’m working on bringing that outside to the exterior.

This was the house when we bought it. So painfully underwhelming and neglected.

And this is where it’s at right now. I’m actually starting the process of painting the white trim black to match the body of the house (mocked up on the right), which I’m really excited about, but…if you take a look at that before photo, you can see the cinder block retaining wall along the sidewalk. That hasn’t changed. Dull, boring, meh. But it’s the perfect spot for a splash of color and visual interest!

Top is where we’re at currently, bottom is the idea I think I’ve settled on! I really wanted a way to incorporate some quotes about community, liberation, mutual aid, and the like. I have an Angela Davis quote planned for the left side section, but I’m still working out what quotes I want to put in the squiggles on the right side.

My next step is to pressure wash the cinder blocks so they don’t have moss growing out of them, then do some research into the best primer and paint to use. I’m super excited. I’ll most likely pull the mural into the gap where the stairs go, too, maybe add something cool on the riser sections?

I’ve really been working towards doing more murals and getting involved in the public art scene here in Tacoma, so I figured a great way to build my mural/public art portfolio would be utilizing my own house as a blank canvas. I’m also trying to work on playing around more stylistically. I did a lot of color blocking shapes murals in the past, which I do love, but I also want to keep playing and finding my own style and approach to mural design.

Anyway! I’ll share more as I progress on the actual install of this mural! Hopefully the weather will cool down a bit, and I’ve got a bunch of work to get done creating a booth set up for some pop up shop/markets I have coming up this summer! I have a really fun design schemed up, and I’m planning on doing the build out for that in the coming week so I’ll share more as I build!