Had a little fun with the shop manger today. On the first day I started this mural, the shop manager noticed I was on the job and headed towards me from about 100 feet away. On his face I read what he was going to ask me, "Are you going to put an eagle in the mural?". By the time he came up to me, I answered what I knew was on his mind before the words came out of his mouth, "Yes." I said, "I plan on painting an eagle somewhere in the mural". Satisfied, and without saying a word, the shop manager, who's name is Jay, walked away happy.
The next day, I laid out the mural in charcoal. Along with the layout, I drew an eagle next to the managers office window and wrote the words "Jay Bird" next to the eagle. Everyone thought that was a pretty funny joke.
As the mural progressed, Jay would periodically ask me If I was still planning on putting the eagle in. I would tease him back and say "Of course! And each time you bug me about it, there will be one less eagle feather on the eagle. It really will be a bald eagle!"
I planned to paint and eagle soaring in the sky and thought it would be a fun joke to replace eagle I drew in charcoal with a Stellars Blue Jay. My original plan was to paint a blue jay sitting in a tree next to Jay's window.
Well, today I finally got in the mood to paint in the eagle. The eagle looked good and appeared to be diving for it's prey with sharp talons ready to grip it with a deadly clutch.
When Jay came out of his office and saw the eagle, he was pleased, yet he commented, "It looks like the eagle is after it's prey. You should have it chasing another bird. Maybe a bird that's sitting in the top of a tree." He then went back into his office. While he was at his desk, I had a fun idea. I painted a bird next to the eagle, frantically trying to get away. Jay has a son who also works in the building. He saw the eagle and said he liked it. He knew his dad would be pleased. I asked him if he knew what kind of bird was flying next to the eagle. He said he didn't know, so when I said "Why, it's a Jay bird, a Stellars Blue Jay!", you should have seen the grin that formed on his face.
MOUNTAIN VISTA MURAL
This sketch represents a hike up Timpanogos Trail. Click on photo to enter Novatek website and see finished mural inside Novatek building.
POSSIBLE PAITING FOR MOUNTAIN VISTA CONFERENCE ROOM
This morning, we temporarilly hung this painting in the building's conference room to see if they like it. Reaction was very good!
PAINTING HUNG IN CONFERENCE ROOM
This show how the painting looks in the corporate environment. Now we're looking for a contemporary frame to hang it in.
The Main Scene
Here we attempted to weave several photos together in photoshop
LEFT END
APRIL 7, 2011. This shows the span of the mural from the left end. This is the view you see when you first walk in.
EMPLOYEE WITH MURAL
APRIL 4, 2011. Novatek employee with mural in background.
VIEW OF NOVATEK MACHINE SHOP WITH MURAL
APRIL 5, 2011. Here is another view of the mural with a section of one of Novatek's metal carving lathes in the forground.
APRIL 4, 2011. OPEN DOOR.
APRIL 4, 2011. An open door to another world.
The Interior Setting
MARCH 14, 2011. This picture gives you a better idea of the setting where the mural is painted. It is basically a machine shop. You'll never find a machine shop cleaner and more inspiring anywhere in the United States than inside this building!
ROBERTS BENCH WITH FINAL ACCENTS
APRIL 7, 2011. WHen you see this much of the Bench, a main Timpanogos feature, you're a little better than half way to the summit. A little further up you will come to the remains of a plane wreck that happened in the 1950's, Emerald Lake, a glacial field and possibly spot some Rocky Mountain goats.
Roberts Bench Timpanogos Feature
THis is the actual photograph I took on the hike up Timpanogos Trail last fall of 2010.
LEFT OF THE FALLS
APRIL 7, 2011. Area left of the waterfall.
ROBERTS POINT
APRIL 7, 2011. Between Roberts Bench and Roberts Point and in the saddle, you will discover a lake called Emerald Lake.
Roberts Point
I took quite a few artistic liberties to get my "Roberts Point" to look good painted over the vertical supports, but here is an actual photograph of the Point. The Point and the Bench were not named after the famous Robert Redford who owns neighboring Sun Valley, but after a natualist from the early 1900's. He spent many years hike Timpanogos, conducting hiking tours and developing the trails..
Stewart Falls JPEG
Here is an actual picture of the Stewart Falls feature along the hike. The Timpanogos Trail is a great experience. Next year, I plan to reach the summit of Roberts Bench which is the top of Timpanogos.
FINAL ACCENTS ON DISTANT ASPENS
APRIL 7, 2011. The low morning sunlight spotlights the line of aspens behind Stewart Falls, skitters across the rock wall area and highlights the waterfall..
GOLDEN ASPENS IN SUNLIGHT
APRIL 7, 2011. Aspens in the light of midmorning.
STEWART FALLS WITH ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT
APRIL 7, 2011. WIth the finished mural, the goat, waterfall and surrounding area got some final accents.
Photo Of Goat
Here's the Goat I saw near Emerald Lake. The lake is about a mile and a half below the Timpanogos summit.
Lowest tear of Stewarts Falls different viewpoint.
Took a different trail on July 4th, 2011 to Stewarts Falls.
Aspen Grove
On the hike up to Stewarts Falls, there were many beautiful groves of Aspens.
MOOSE AREA
APRIL 7, 2011. As an added interest, we painted a pair of moose and a squirrel in this area. Can you see the squirrel?
SQUIRREL
APRIL 7, 2011. The squirrel makes a nice accent of detail.
COW MOOSE
APRIL 7, 2011. The cow pokes out from behind a group of aspens. Can you find the squirrel in this picture?
LEFT END DETAIL 1
APRIL 7, 2011. Tree top detail on left end.
LEFT END DETAIL 2
APRIL 7, 2011. This shows some of the finishing details of the mural.
LEFT END DETAIL 3
APRIL 7, 2011. I love to paint the markings and the reflected light details
THE MURAL AT THE BEGINNING STAGES
This picture remins the viewer what tthe mural looked like in during the beginning stages of development.
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