Ephesians One Mural

I had so much fun creating this mural for our church a couple weeks back. This verse is at the center of everything that will be talked about in the next series we're going through and is being encouraged to memorize throughout the next couple months. When I was approached about the project, originally the idea was to have something painted directly onto the wall, but after I started sketching it out and knowing the amount of time it would take I wanted to make something that could be reused instead of getting painted over. So I came up with the idea of mounting something on the wall that could be hung in other places throughout the church once the series was over. Once I had the measurements figured out and the pieces were built, I realized I did some math wrong and didn't factor in what the size of the whole piece would be once they were all put next to each other. After trying not to freak out too long, I thought to overlap them and have the two smaller pieces pop off the wall--which in the end turned out even better as it saved space and created a dimensional look that would make the over all piece a lot more intriguing.

I spent the course of three full days working on this thing not including the sketching and digital processing time. (Shout out to my amazing husband who took on parenting duties--needless to say he's the BEST!) It was a hefty deal, making it the largest lettering project I've worked on to date! Sixteen feet high by 16 feet wide (each piece measured 8x8, 8x6, and 6x6). I started out sketching it onto graph paper and used my pen to make it look exactly how I saw it in my head. I then scanned it onto the computer to make final tweaks to the size and proportion it would be on each board. From there, I projected the digital file onto the board from my computer and made it fill the whole board. Then I got to sketching again, tracing out the digital picture in chalk on the the piece and eventually painting over the chalk to created the final look. Its a time consuming process, but I really do love every minute of it!

I loved getting to read through each paragraph as I sketched and created what I wanted the final to be, pulling out words that I wanted to have a focus on and creating lettering that would appeal to the overall feel of the piece. I felt like I put a lot of my own heart and self in this as I thought about the verse in my own life over and over. 

As any artist knows, we are our own worst critics, so I've tried not to be over perfectionist about it, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out! And even happier knowing its being hung in a sacred, safe place that is becoming a blessing to so many.