ON THE WALL

This month, I pitched in to help out with a mural project here in Knoxville. It's under the interstate on 6th Ave. If you happen to be traveling north on Hall of Fame, take a right on 6th and go check it out. The mural was designed by Per-Ole Lind, who also has space in the 17th Street Studios. Over two weekends I did a lot of detailing with brown paint -- making crisp edges and straightening out wonky lines. I had never helped out with a mural before, and it was really fun. I'd do it again. The community seems to love it, and we would get a lot of honks and waves from cars passing by. Much of the painting was done by community members from the 3 neighborhoods joined at this intersection -- Fourth and Gill, Parkridge, and Old North. People of all ages contributed, and I had now fewer than 4 people try to recruit me to move to Parkridge. (Not entirely practical at this time in my life, but there are some great Craftsman houses in that area.) Documentation of the entire project can be found here on its Facebook page. It was surprisingly hard work, and I have newfound mad respect for Michelangelo and every other fresco painter. My painting arm got its butt kicked, but I wasn't lying on my back, or racing against time to complete anything before plaster dried. And we also had the modern amenities of a pick-up truck to blast some music to keep us all grooving and steadily moving forward.

Standing on that step you're not supposed to stand on. Don't worry Mom, nothing happened.