The City of Happiness

"The City of Happiness is in the State of Mind"

This is a mural that I've just completed for my good friend Terri. We stuffed all of her hopes and dreams into a fantasy town based upon the Montmartre area of Paris. Neither of us have been there, so please excuse the extreme liberties that I've taken.

In the center, she has the shop she's always wanted. I have a big fantastic art gallery in the front right. In front of my studio are her parents walking arm-in-arm as they were on their wedding day in 1950. The woman and child at the flower cart are a memory of my friend with her daughter when her daughter was about ten. The bistro at the far left is a restaurant for her son-in-law who loves to cook with all of our friends present at the tables. And at the very far right of the picture are Terri and I dreaming of the paths our futures will take us.

I wish my camera were better at capturing the little details like the little birds bringing good fortune, but you can sort of make those out. Our friends also have little shops in the background, but that lettering would be very hard to capture.

The whole wall is 90" tall by 73" wide, painted in acrylic. This is about a 40" swath of the whole mural that doesn't include a railing in the lower foreground.

PS: You'll notice a light switch over the music store!

PPS: Here's a link to my WIP thread on "The Angry Crayon" [link]