Vintage Gardens Mural
by Mrs. Stone.
How it all began…
After admiring garden mosaic projects featured in a book on school gardens, the classroom wall that is part of the east side of Vintage garden started to look awfully plain. The idea of doing a mosaic mural, which might hold up better than a painted mural in the direct sun, seemed like a fun idea. Not having done any mosaic work, I approached two staff members, Mrs. Fuchs (a parent and staff member) and Mrs. Palato (5th grade teacher) who had experience with mosaic art projects. They agreed with the idea of a mosaic mural for the garden sounded like a good idea.
The design…
We thought it would be nice to make this a 5th grade project. Fifth grade students were encourage to submit garden related designs. Two designs, by Jeff Esquivias. and Jackie Cuellar, were selected to be the inspiration from which we pulled mural ideas. Mrs. Palato combined these ideas one design.
How it all began…
After admiring garden mosaic projects featured in a book on school gardens, the classroom wall that is part of the east side of Vintage garden started to look awfully plain. The idea of doing a mosaic mural, which might hold up better than a painted mural in the direct sun, seemed like a fun idea. Not having done any mosaic work, I approached two staff members, Mrs. Fuchs (a parent and staff member) and Mrs. Palato (5th grade teacher) who had experience with mosaic art projects. They agreed with the idea of a mosaic mural for the garden sounded like a good idea.
The design…
We thought it would be nice to make this a 5th grade project. Fifth grade students were encourage to submit garden related designs. Two designs, by Jeff Esquivias. and Jackie Cuellar, were selected to be the inspiration from which we pulled mural ideas. Mrs. Palato combined these ideas one design.
Materials….
The call was put out to the Vintage community for ceramic dishes, ceramic tiles and any other materials we could use. Cupboards were raided and thrift shops visited for colorful old dishes. Tiles, dishes and glass craft pieces were contributed. Since most homes used white, beige and blue tiles, we needed to obtain garden bright colors. B&W Tiles Company in Gardena, sold broken tiles reasonably – bring your own bucket and fill’er up for $3. Working with a shoestring budget, this was a great deal. From B&W unbroken tiles in bright strawberry red, carrot orange and sunflower yellow tiles where purchased. Additionally, Mrs. Fuchs and, Mrs.Cuellar, solicited Home Depot for donations to help purchase river rock and the bonding material for the stones and tiles.
Project starts….
Parent volunteer, Mr. Esquivias, who is a house painter with TNJ Painting, painted the wall background of blue sky and green grass using Dunn-Edwards Spartashield exterior acrylic flat paint DE5643 Seaweed and DE5834 Azure Sky. Coordinated by Mrs. Fuchs and Mrs. Palato, the class of 2012 fifth graders started adding river rock to the base of the design. Mrs. Palato then began sketching a few key elements of the design onto the wall. But, the school year came to an end with much work still to be done.
Summer break 2012 work continues…
Although Mrs. Palato was leaving Vintage June of the 2012 school year, she came during the summer to get the mural birdbath started. Being the great and creative teacher she is, I soon learned how to do a mosaic mural. She was encouraging saying that it doesn’t have to be perfect – the mosaic pieces will form to give the impression of the design. But oh… was the process so much slower than I thought it would be. On average, a couple feet of vine and trellis could take 4 hours to complete.
We were lucky to have the help of a few students, Christiana Avitia and Sarah Vargas, who pitched in during the summer building up the river rock. Sadly, before long, Mrs. Palato had to move on. Her creative talent was quickly missed. But, there was still so much left to do. Sitting atop a ladder, praying an earthquake didn’t hit while I was on it (one did), searching for the right tile pieces to shape the design became my Sunday mornings activity of choice in our quiet and serene school garden. One had to work quickly as the hot summer sun steadily overtook the shade creeping closer and closer to the mural wall.
School resumes (early that year - August 2012)…
Wanting to keep students involved, I found some adhesive tile mesh and made up patterns for each 5th grade classroom to put together. Each room made a cluster of grapes, a sunflower and a fruit tree for the mural.
Mrs. Mirada, a Vintage parent and a LAUSD substitute, was on campus for the Fall 2012 School Beautification Day and offered to help work on the mural. Halleluiah! She joined in on Sunday mornings working on the river rock and making the fruit to go around the base of the birdbath. It was great to have company and the pace of work picked up.
We realized as the project progressed that the design would end up modified. Fine detail was hard to create, colors weren’t always available, and time and labor were limited. This type of project leaves itself open for adding on to it. It is a labor of love. We hope it brings joy to the Vintage community as they pass by the Vintage Gardens.
The call was put out to the Vintage community for ceramic dishes, ceramic tiles and any other materials we could use. Cupboards were raided and thrift shops visited for colorful old dishes. Tiles, dishes and glass craft pieces were contributed. Since most homes used white, beige and blue tiles, we needed to obtain garden bright colors. B&W Tiles Company in Gardena, sold broken tiles reasonably – bring your own bucket and fill’er up for $3. Working with a shoestring budget, this was a great deal. From B&W unbroken tiles in bright strawberry red, carrot orange and sunflower yellow tiles where purchased. Additionally, Mrs. Fuchs and, Mrs.Cuellar, solicited Home Depot for donations to help purchase river rock and the bonding material for the stones and tiles.
Project starts….
Parent volunteer, Mr. Esquivias, who is a house painter with TNJ Painting, painted the wall background of blue sky and green grass using Dunn-Edwards Spartashield exterior acrylic flat paint DE5643 Seaweed and DE5834 Azure Sky. Coordinated by Mrs. Fuchs and Mrs. Palato, the class of 2012 fifth graders started adding river rock to the base of the design. Mrs. Palato then began sketching a few key elements of the design onto the wall. But, the school year came to an end with much work still to be done.
Summer break 2012 work continues…
Although Mrs. Palato was leaving Vintage June of the 2012 school year, she came during the summer to get the mural birdbath started. Being the great and creative teacher she is, I soon learned how to do a mosaic mural. She was encouraging saying that it doesn’t have to be perfect – the mosaic pieces will form to give the impression of the design. But oh… was the process so much slower than I thought it would be. On average, a couple feet of vine and trellis could take 4 hours to complete.
We were lucky to have the help of a few students, Christiana Avitia and Sarah Vargas, who pitched in during the summer building up the river rock. Sadly, before long, Mrs. Palato had to move on. Her creative talent was quickly missed. But, there was still so much left to do. Sitting atop a ladder, praying an earthquake didn’t hit while I was on it (one did), searching for the right tile pieces to shape the design became my Sunday mornings activity of choice in our quiet and serene school garden. One had to work quickly as the hot summer sun steadily overtook the shade creeping closer and closer to the mural wall.
School resumes (early that year - August 2012)…
Wanting to keep students involved, I found some adhesive tile mesh and made up patterns for each 5th grade classroom to put together. Each room made a cluster of grapes, a sunflower and a fruit tree for the mural.
Mrs. Mirada, a Vintage parent and a LAUSD substitute, was on campus for the Fall 2012 School Beautification Day and offered to help work on the mural. Halleluiah! She joined in on Sunday mornings working on the river rock and making the fruit to go around the base of the birdbath. It was great to have company and the pace of work picked up.
We realized as the project progressed that the design would end up modified. Fine detail was hard to create, colors weren’t always available, and time and labor were limited. This type of project leaves itself open for adding on to it. It is a labor of love. We hope it brings joy to the Vintage community as they pass by the Vintage Gardens.