The Lark Center is a new facility in Norwood, MA that provides therapeutic play and learning for children. As they were building out the space, the Lark team (Becca and Michelle) had an area dedicated to play and a vision to make it magical – which is where I came in!
The first piece of the puzzle was a play structure – which the Lark team planned to have custom-built by Gavin Lynn of The Creative Carpentry Company. To accompany the play structure, Becca wanted a mural to create a “playful, whimsical and magical” environment for the kids.
Sometimes when I meet with a client, it takes a little while of collaboration to come up with the theme for a mural – but when I first met with Becca and Gavin, this mural theme came to me within minutes. When I proposed to Becca that I do a sunset scene with giant mushrooms, a frog and a ladybug – she immediately was on board! Taking this idea to the next level, Gavin proposed to make his play structure look like a mushroom – and we were off to the races.
As always, I started with a scale concept painting to make sure my idea is exactly what my clients want. Allowing for the space of the play structure, I did this concept painting (below) for Becca’s approval – and again, she was quick to approve! With the design ready to go, I was also good to share with Gavin, so he could design his structure and plan for colors that would tie in with my mural.
The design concept
Once the space was ready for me, I was on to painting the mural. At this point, the Lark Center was just getting started, so it was a blast to be a part of all the excitement and energy of the Lark team as they watched the progress. Once the mural was complete, Gavin came in and worked his magic with the play center.
It was amazing to go back to the Lark center when they had their grand opening to watch kids gasp and squeal with glee when they saw the room and jumped in to play!
Enjoy!
The space, including Gavin’s mushroom play house!
The ladybug in the crawl space/nook under the play house
Peeking out from the crawl space!
