Making Walls Disappear

I've spent some time with Edwin while he has worked on his last several murals, and through observation and questions, have come up with a basic model of what steps he takes when painting a mural. The first thing he does is to sketch out the design in chalk.  Once this is done, he "blocks" (or 3-D's) the different objects in the design.  This is the time when he makes any small adjustments to the approved design in order to fit everything into the allotted space.  This is a very visual part of the work and Edwin views the sketch from different angles and distances to ensure balance and fluidity of the picture. Once the design is sketched out and adjustments made, the next step is to paint in the background around the objects.  It is much easier to do this now rather than after painting in the main elements because you don't have to worry about getting over spray on them, so the picture is much cleaner. At any time during this process, the client is su...

Just recently, Edwin finished a beautiful mural for a client. This is a client whom he had done another mural for about 7 years ago.  In that time, Edwin's phone number had changed, the client had moved to a different home...in other words, they had lost track of each other. So it was a pleasant surprise when he received a message from them via Facebook over the Christmas holidays. They had been trying to find Edwin for nearly 5 years, ever since they had move to their new house. so that he could paint another mural for them.  She wouldn't consider anyone else but Edwin to do this mural for them.  When asked what she would have done if she had never be able to contact him, she simply said she would have just gone without one. Here's a couple of shots of the finished work: The mural wrapped around 3 walls , part of which was behind this really cool winding staircase, so it was certainly fun for him to do! When the job was finished, they ...

Along with his artistic abilities, Edwin has a strong entrepreneurial side, and this has evidenced itself recently with the development of a product and technique that is new to both the retail wall décor industry and to the art world in general. Effectively a new style of trompe-l'oeil, Edwin has coined the term 't rou dans le mur ', (translated from French to mean 'hole in the wall') for this concept that incorporates the existing wall architecturally into the overall design. It consists of 1 to 10+ individual pieces, that when applied to a wall, afford a view as if seen through one or a series of portals (or “holes) through the wall. The spaces around or between the individual pieces are the original wall showing through, and they become as if the actual brick and mortar of the design, framing, if you will, the hole through which the trompe-l'oeil picture is seen. So for the first time ever he is able to produce a product with all the elements of a traditio...