Thanks

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We’d like to thank the donors who have made the Lenape Mural Project possible:

ShopRite of Hunterdon
QuikChek
Marion & Robert Adelman
J. Carey & JoAnne Rogers
Two Buttons
Frenchtown Home & Hardware
Catherine Leach
Ralph & Virginia Harder
Stem Brothers
Tee & Norman Carlsen
FleetServ, Inc.
Marianne & Nicholas Marotta
Coldwell Banker Real Estate
Lee Wayne Corp.
Shenberger Insurance Inc.
Howard & Terry Teaf
Nancy & Stanley Baron
Ramon & Cathy Rosswaag
Cowles & Janet Herr
Pagano Associates, Inc.
Thistle
Frenchtown Pharmacy
Mr. & Mrs. E.J. Purdy III

Day 16 Painting the Lenape Mural

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Day 16 closeupToday the eagle got a little friend. Seen on the lower left, I’ve painted an Oriole perched in the branches. My wildlife consultant is Dr. Larry King, resident of Frenchtown and avid birdwatcher.

Today is scheduled to be the last day of painting. There are so many details I want to include. I better get crackin’!

Day 14 and 15 Painting the Lenape Mural

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Day 14

Yesterday

Day 15

Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are in the final days, detailing the cracks in the wall and painting in the foliage. I am also painting out more foliage: as you can see on today’s photo, the tree on the right is diminished. The foliage on the left has become more distinct. We plan to perch an Oriole in the branches above the wigwam. Several viewers requested an American Bald Eagle, and we have fulfilled their wish.

Eagle

Close up of the eagle on the upper right.

We’ll be finishing the mural on the next sunny day, forecast to be Thursday.

Day 13 Painting the Lenape Mural

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Day 13 Compare

Before changes were made.

Day 13

After changes were made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several important changes have been made to the mural in the last two days, as you can see in the comparison photos above. On the left: the white egret, the fishing canoe and the branches of the tree are all a problem. On the right the egret is transformed to a Blue Grey Heron and the fishing canoe is larger, in more credible proportion. Notice that the fisherman in the boat could, on closer inspection, quite possibly be a woman. In the native tradition, this figure may represent a “two spirited” person. It was by accident, not by design but apparently this person wanted a life in the mural.   I’ve also painted out the connection between the foliage on the front right with the distant reflection in the water. It was hindering our view and sense of depth. Lastly, the wigwam has more definition from the background and some deeper shadows.

Day 12 Painting the Lenape Mural

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Day 12Today Don designed the slab of cement to the right of the image that will be our Dedication Stone to acknowledge the donors to the mural at the level of $1,000. and up. Just a few more details and it will be complete, ready for the donor’s names.

I changed the Great White Egret to a Blue Gray Heron today. Note that the water at the shallow level is now a little greener. I’m almost finished with the sycamore tree at the right. I am starting to think that the Lenape in the dugout canoe needs to be a bit bigger to be in correct proportion, so that might need to change tomorrow. Fortunately, all my paint is pre-mixed in plastic containers, making it fairly easy to make changes like that.

Day 11 Painting the Lenape Mural

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Day 11Today I painted the highlights on the 21st century guy’s red t-shirt and blue jeans. The shirt and the jeans are nice rich colors in contrast to the earth tones of our Lenape family, but they still needed to pop more. It is crucial that his life sized figure reads as real and the more I can do to increase his 3 dimensionality, the more the mural will “fool the eye”, a.k.a. “trompe l’oeil”.

Don spent most of the day on the “upper deck”, making sure the new areas of sky we’ve revealed by visually breaking open the wall are well blended.

Tomorrow I will change the white egret to a Blue Heron and finish the foliage on the right side. His sneakers need to be painted, too. Our goal is to finish the mural by Monday.

Day 10 Painting the Lenape Mural

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Day 10On Day 10 of our Spring finale, we opened up the wall more on the right and side, as well. Wow, it has such a great feeling of space. Now, we need to paint in more clouds and foliage. We are painting against the clock now, also contending with some rainy weather. Our deadline to finish is Wednesday, May 16th. Bill Brokaw has kindly offered to donate his time and expertise to photograph the finished mural for printing the poster. So everything has got to be just right before the photo is taken.

Day 10 CU

 

 

 

We have also painted a Great White egret on the edge of the water. I think we’ll change his genus to a Great Blue Heron, as the white egret is a bit flashy here.

Day 9 Painting the Lenape Mural

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Day 9Today we broke open more of the wall on the upper left of the mural. We simply wanted to see more sky! The lower section of the mural is circumscribed by the metal  railing and so the width of the opening in the wall is opened up as far as it can go. It starts to curve back in over the wigwam and I like the privacy of it. But we thought, wouldn’t it be nice to see more sky and give a feeling of openness to the space above our intimate peek hole back in time.

Day 8 Painting Lenape Mural

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Day 8 CUToday the fisherman in a dugout canoe has appeared in the distance. He will also need to have a fishing weir painting around him, the device the Lenape used to pool the fish into one area for easy pickuns.

Day 8

 

 

 

I’ve also detailed and highlighted some of the foreground objects better. The details make the difference in terms of authenticity and credulity of the whole picture. The wolf puppy, for instance, now has a fuller face and bigger paws.

Day 7 Painting Lenape Mural

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Day 7 SpringToday the Lenape family got a baby! I wanted to make sure the little papoose looked secure and content. In my search for an authentic Lenape baby board, I turned up a few different designs, mostly from the Southwest and Northwest traditions. I settled on one that looked like it could’ve have been woven from reeds. As basketry was prevalent in Lenape craft work, it seems likely their baby boards would have been similar to this one.Detail

 

 

I’ve also added a basket to the right of the mortar and pestle in which my Lenape woman can put the corn she is grinding.

Tomorrow I will give them a blueberry bush. They need a snack!

Day Six painting Lenape Mural

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Day 6 SpringToday the Lenape family’s dog decided he was most definitely a wolf. I had been wavering between making him a coyote or a wolf and yesterday he became a wolf. I realized when I had finished that he is a bit too small to be an adult wolf, so I think I will alter him slightly to be a wolf pup. His face will need to be rounder and cuter. My research on wolves tells me that they were ubiquitous on this continent until the European population drove them nearly to extinction by the 1930s. They are scavengers that prey on hoofed animals, so I think the Gray Wolf would have thrived well on our native deer.

The wolf cub is posed looking back to the future, a leitmotif that occurs in the Milford Mural, as well: the horse hitched up to the cart is looking back at the viewer.

Day 6 Spring detail

Day 6 closeup

The Lenape man now has several grouse feathers arranged in his scalp lock. I’ve also softened my Lenape woman’s poncho and plaited her hair.

Tomorrow I will begin to detail the foliage. I think I will plant a wild blueberry bush to give them something to snack on!