ZipUsUp was a collaborative mural, so my painting had to visually connect to the artists on both sides of my painting. Each painting had a zipper sewn into the canvas prior to the artists painting it, so the murals could be zipped together upon completion. The murals wrapped around the interior of the Baldwin Library in Michigan.
The artist to the left of me, Haydar Al-Yasiry, had geese in his image. I was captivated by the birds in flight, which influenced me in a way I had not expected. As I was painting, a much larger bird emerged from my abstract work, which acted as the transition point from misty clouds into the warmth of my colors. I had not originally planned to include so much of the clouds and realism from Haydar’s piece, but “The Phoenix” was born, which was the focal point of my piece. It was also the name suggested for my mural by my collaborator, Haydar Al-Yasiry. I liked the name and the mythology around the meaning of the Phoenix, which expressed the point of my painting. The Phoenix bird symbolizes transformation, resurrection, and rebirth. The abstract painting shows how the Phoenix is rising from the ashes to something new and higher than itself.
I wanted colors that would shine through and create warmth for my mural, so I chose Diarylide yellow (yellow-orange) as my underpainting. This gave brilliance to the colors as I added my layers. Both artists beside me chose colors that were cool, so I incorporated those cool colors into my mural. I knew this would complement and balance the warm colors I chose, one emphasizing the other, while also providing the transition to the next segment of the story. I wanted the Diarylide yellow color to play center stage to what surrounded it, so it provided a beginning, middle and end in my mural. This provided the link between two narratives and moved the story forward, regardless of which direction the viewer chose to look at the mural.
The original artist to my right, Erina Shibata, had geometrical shapes in her work, so I chose to include circles in mine that “bubbled over” from one mural to another, acting as components of transition along with my ribbons of color that matched her palette colors.The new artist, Shelly Hass, who replaced Erina Shibata, incorporated components of the design I had with Erina into hers.
