NC Public Art’s Max Dowdle partnered with fellow muralist Jim Lemyre to bring this massive autumn tree to life in downtown Mt. Holly, New Jersey. We were given extraordinary leeway when it came to design, but one stipulation was that the building owner’s two adopted children be featured in the mural. This request lead to a fantastic trompe l’oeil element in the lower left, where life-size renderings of the children were painted reaching to catch a leaf from the brightly colored tree above.
The early concept was mapped out in proper proportion from the building dimensions, taking special note of where the windows were, and working the design around those static elements. The architectural dictates of a project can sometimes be daunting, but with skill we were able to work with those elements, rather than fighting them.
After our design was approved it was time to prep the wall. Originally we only had ladders, which, while giving a great leg workout, doesn’t do much for efficiency. Luckily after priming the town found some scaffolds for us.
The colors were blocked in with rollers and some light brush work. After we had a “full statement” of the design up we set about breaking the blocks up with actual leaf shapes. We did this with a series of leaf-shaped stencils that made the job of painting hundreds of leaves much more surmountable.
We chose autumn as the theme because we wanted something bright and dynamic lighting up the center of downtown. The mural appears right at the central intersection, so it enjoys quite a bit of visibility. We were absolutely thrilled with the response we received transforming this drab corner into a landmark.