When I work with clients who want a mural painted, a couple of the common goals are to make their space special when people visit and memorable after they leave. This was definitely the case with my most recent mural project for a tea house and café that is opening soon!
When my client Ed was planning the space for his up-coming Nirvana Tea House & Café in Millis, MA – he wanted it to have a little of the magic he experienced while visiting tea fields in Asia. To accomplish this in a way that people would be sure to enjoy and remember, he asked me to make a centerpiece in his café with a 6’x13’ mural of a tea field!
When I met with Ed in the space, our first order of business was to figure out the mood and colors that would be the best fit for the mural. For the mood, Ed wanted to capture the spiritual and inclusive nature of his motto “Inviting the world to tea”. For the colors, Ed already had a fantastic fabric from Bhutan picked out for the cushions on his seats, so we used that as our guide for colors in the rest of the café – and in turn the mural.
To create a quiet, contemplative mood and to capture some of the beautiful jewel tones of purple, orange and yellow in the fabric, I decided to focus on a scene at sunset. This set me on my way to finding images I could use as inspiration, which I shared with Ed to come up with a look that fit his vision.
Once I was confident I knew what Ed wanted, I moved on to my “concept painting” stage – where I do a scale painting of the mural design I am proposing with the actual paints I would use for the final project. Below is an image of this concept painting:
8” x 18” concept painting
We met again in the space to look at this concept together and Ed loved it! With my design approved, I was on to painting the final mural. Below are various stages of the process – starting with the blank wall:
The blank wall pre-mural
After 3 days of drawing and painting
Action shot on day 4
Action shot on day 5
Action shot on day 6
Day 7
Day 8
The foreground close-up of the tea plants took over 3 days to paint!
Done painting! I came back to do a protective clear-coat
Foreground detail
And here is the final result after Ed had the ceiling painted to match the darker purple trim in the café:
As another fun note on this project, Ed also had me create the logo for Nirvana! Our main objectives with the logo were to make something that would capture the sprit of Ed’s tag line “Inviting the world to tea” and would also be identifiable and memorable. After some brainstorming around different approaches, below is the final logo that will soon adorn Nirvana Tea House & Café!:
Enjoy!
Jason