- Three, four, five, six, seven, and I see I decided to cut her out so I could just get seven people there.

That's the actual drawing of the people floating in the sky.

Not many people get a chance to see this part of the process.

I look at the blank wall and then I try to see what shapes the light is reflecting on the wall or what imperfections the wall has, and I sketch those out as shapes, not any specific images yet.

(calm music) What I love about murals is they can show a story across the scene that a lot of people can relate to, and they show a lot of perspectives at once.

So when people can look at those and interpret them for themselves and make their own meaning from it, to me, that empowers a person.

(calm music) People surprise me with what they see, and it gives it so much more richer meaning and I actually learn things.

So this is "Rebirthing of the Earth Mother."

A lot of people don't see themselves as powerful, and I wanna show people that they are powerful.

(calm music) (music fades) (calm bright music) (calm bright music continues) (calm bright music continues) (music stops) This was by far definitely, like, the most detailed concept just painting-wise that I've ever done.

My work is about breaking down walls of isolation.

I want people to know that their voices matter.

It shows a transition of challenges along the bottom to choices of how things can get better and everybody working together to create a brighter future.

So I decided this was gonna be the future.

The choices would be on either side and the challenges would be along the bottom.

So I showed the community that as a template without anything in it, and I said, "This is how your ideas are going to fit together in the mural."

So there's a spot for everybody.

We all want the same things in life.

We all wanna belong.

We all wanna participate as part of something bigger than ourselves.

We all wanna make a difference and help things get better in some way.

I like this one.

I think this is the final.

Something as small as freely sharing our feelings in a community mural project can help us see that we're not alone and we're all on this journey together.

(serene music) One thing that I hear people say when they look at my art is they talk about how much they love the colors.

When people look at those colors and the art that's on the wall, what I've seen is it helps them get past their limits of what they think is possible.

I think that's because the way that I work with colors when I'm painting is I think of them like people.

Every color has its own unique expression.

And so when I'm painting, I'm thinking about how to help them get along.

The way I do that is by creating transitional spaces.

So in the blending, in the ways that the colors are interacting together, I wanna get all those perspectives to relate in a way where there's harmony.

The "Sherman Park Rising" mural.

That project was the foundational piece of what my work is about.

What happened there for me kind of speaks to the discovery process of it for myself and how impactful that was for me, but then also the community.

And like ultimately that's the best measure of what I feel I can offer or what I want to offer, what I'm inspiring to do in terms of like healing.

It was the first time I'd worked with a community that had experienced a traumatic event.

On top of that, I knew that people would be feeling a range of emotions, and I was afraid that people would just wanna come and throw paint at the wall or not even participate.

And I was afraid I couldn't do it.

But I saw potential in the situation and I felt that I had to try something.

I realized I had underestimated the community's willingness to acknowledge painful issues in a constructive way.

That was a huge revelation for me, and it stuck with me and it's something that I've carried with me ever since.

(hopeful music) And when we come together and join our efforts and be a collective, it's incredibly motivating and inspiring and moves me and motivates me to do what I do.

And for me to see that will in the community and that determination says a lot about who we are as a community.

(hopeful music) (hopeful music continues) Right now the mural looks really good compared to what it did a couple summers ago.

I'm hoping it looks as good as I want it to in a couple weeks.

(hopeful music) (hopeful music continues) (hopeful music continues) (music fades) - [Narrator] Thanks for watching "The Arts Page."

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