The Wall So Far...

Most of the time, I really, really try to finish projects I start. But sometimes, there are just some projects that take way longer to get done than I expect. The project in question happens to be my bedroom wall. Painting a mural on my bedroom wall has been one of my dreams since I was very little. But I didn't actually decide to do it until last summer. I had just gotten home from my tour to Sweden, Estonia, and Latvia with Shrine of the Ages choir and I was looking for a project to do when I noticed the framed photos that I'd had on my wall since junior high. I figured it was time to change them out, but I wanted to do it a little differently. After picking new photos (most of which came from the tour) I drew up a design for the new layout:

The color scheme of my room is green (the walls), brown (the carpet), and white (pretty much all the furniture). So this was my design. The rectangles are where I would place the picture frames; I was kinda going for the "family tree" concept.

However, this concept has changed drastically since its beginnings. This was the time when I also developed my...mild...obsession with fairies, so I modified the design to be a sort of fairy haven. Here's a series of sketches and concepts that grew out of the original.

My hope is to put a bunch of fairies in after everything else is finished. I don't know how many I want yet though...

So with these ideas, I began! I worked throughout the summer, usually for a couple hours at a time. I just wasn't very consistent, so I didn't get that far.

 I began by marking where I wanted the picture frames to go by taping pieces of paper to the wall.

Then I marked the outline of the first tree with some tape.

I marked the second tree and kinda improvised with this one, since I didn't do too much planning with it.

Here's the first tree painted!! I really like the way it turned out. I decided to make the trunk skinnier and forego the door and windows I drew into my second set of designs. But I might put them back in after everything else is done. We'll see.

After the trees came the flowers and mushrooms. I kept everything in the green/brown/white scheme.











I don't have any more in between photos. And the project is still in the works. It's been a nice project because I don't feel pressured to get it done and I can fall back on it when I want a break from things. And so, here's one last picture. This is the current state of the project. I still have to finish the tree roots, touch up the blossoms, and add all the fairies. But that'll be simple! Right?.....