30 December 2015

Garden-themed Mural by Ashley Hodder

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Up on Mt Washington, a few blocks back from the scenic overlooks, there was a fence covered in graffiti at a troublesome intersection. Ashley Hodder was commissioned to paint a mural on this fence with the guidelines of something bright, colorful, and with a garden theme. The objective was to draw people back toward this section of the neighborhood, and at the same time eliminate the blank canvas that kept attracting the unwanted graffiti.

Ashley created a vibrant scene of poppies, bees and birds. We asked why she chose poppies and she explained how she wanted the mural to have a sensation of movement and needed a flower with a contrasting center to achieve it. She pointed out how the dark centers acted a bit like musical notes to lead your eye across the fence. In addition to that, there are bees and a bird that help to move your focus left to right. A darker band of flower buds interspersed with the blooms will then lead you back across the fence from right to left.

It's a beautiful scene and it seems to accomplish it's goal. It drew us up the street to see it and when we got there we saw a clean, landscaped intersection. No graffiti - only a great mural.

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