Finally - Ladies and Gentlemen - The Kuwait Mural!

I painted a mural for Starbucks Kuwait this summer. I made it here and it was shipped to the site. It was recently installed and the store has opened so I can post pictures of it now. Here is the blurb that Starbucks uses to describe the subject. We chose the subject matter very carefully with a great deal of consultation between Kuwait and Seattle.

"Imagine that you are walking along the sea shore - in the desert country of Kuwait. The year is 2012. Or 1912. Or any time. You come upon an old stone wall where a pearl fisher recently sat, opening oysters and drinking coffee...





...You are surrounded by the beautiful desert plants of Kuwait, including a shrub with yellow flowers called Arfaj which is symbolic of the country. Hoopoe birds keep watch over the scene...



...In the distance you see pearl fishing dhows sailing the waters of the Gulf...





...And beyond the bay the distant profile of Mutla Ridge rises against the golden sky. In the hot sun everything shines with gold!"







The team - Heather and Kenna who art directed the project. Colin and Damon who oversaw the cutting of the wooden trees. And Ericka who lent me her house to use as a studio. Ray - I don't have a picture of. Tim who got this all started. So many more people helped with this project.





There are painted dates. And dates cut out of wood! The fruit is important to arab culture and tradition.

The wood was cut so carefully with a water jet!

 

 

 

This is the largest painting I have ever made and measures 28x14 feet. (8.5x4.9 metres). Though we planned this for six months, all the painting and woodwork was done in the last five weeks. I developed callouses on my hands from moving the panels around over and over again as I painted.