Leaves of Mud

I was back working on the Belmar mud mural briefly this afternoon. Saw Kat at my day job and she said she was ready to work today, so I joined her at the site by 4:00. At that point she had added another bamboo stalk on the left side (see above) and was ready to add some leaf shapes, also based on bamboo plants. We debated as to what size to make them, rejecting the small size that would be accurate to the actual plants, in favor of larger leaves that worked better compositionally. Kat had me sketch the leaves, using the water brush to mark and soften the exterior contours, then the brush handle to scratch the lines into the wall. I then brushed more water into the shape, and left it to Kat to apply and shape the mud. However, she wasn't satisfied after the first one, feeling that having the leaves projecting from the wall surface in the same way as the bamboo killed any sense of space.

She suggested an alternative- just marking the leaf shapes on the wall, but leaving them flat, and then using color to make the leaves during the painting part of the process. So that's what we're doing. She did apply a little new mud to the leaf areas to provide a smoother painting surface, especially on the left side where the straw was more prominent on the wall's surface. I then redrew the exterior contour of all four leaves, wetting with the water brush and lightly scratching the edges into the wall. Unless Kat decides to do some touch-up work, this should mark the end of using the mud on the wall. Tentative plans are to have one more group event in about a week, and invite people to come apply paint to our letters and other decorative reliefs. After that the canopy will be removed and we'll let nature run its course.