Gallery | Archive 1

Commercial Murals

I have painted a wide variety of commercial mural projects for ballrooms, restaurants, and retail stores.*

  • All
  • Large Murals
  • The Ruins
  • Tommy Bahama
  • Palace Kitchen
  • Smaller Murals
My most complex commercial mural project was for a ballroom in a private dining club called The Ruins. Here I am, surrounded by some of the initial plans and sketches and the final installed murals. These ballroom murals covered the 17’ high walls and ceiling of a 30x40’ room and were focused on the theme of the great Pacific Northwest before the time of the European and American explorers. I did a year of designing and research before I put paint to canvas. The painting itself took 9 months, and I finished a month before deadline. Photo by Daniel Shapiro.
Commercial mural. The Ruins Ballroom. 30x40x17’, Acrylic on canvas with composite gold leaf on ornamental borders and moldings I designed. Composite gold leaf was applied by Frank Irlanda and Bobby Irlanda. Photography: Robert Pisano
Commercial mural. The is the largest cartouche of the Ruins ballroom murals. 15x17’, acrylic on canvas. All the plants and animals are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest in the entire ballroom mural. Photography: Terry Reed
Commercial mural, the Ruins ballroom 8x17’ Acrylic on canvas. In this cartouche, Vancouver and his ship the Discovery are coming into shore, and the Salish people are approaching the ship in their canoe. Photography: Terry Reed
Commercial mural, the Ruins ballroom, 6x17’. Acrylic on canvas In this cartouche, I have the Nez Perce traveling down the Columbia Gorge to trade.The man is on his horse, while the woman is soaking her tired feet! Photography: Terry Reed
The native American wall, The Ruins ballroom. 17x12’, acrylic on canvas and composite gold leaf. My client preferred the Nez Perce costumes, so I requested the Nez Perce museum in Spalding, Idaho, to send me copies of old photos of Nez Perce in their gala outfits. Nez Perce dress was closer to the costumes of the Plains Indians than that of the coastal Salish, who wore robes of cedar bark. Photography: Terry Reed
Commercial mural, Tommy Bahama, Fort Destin, 9 x16’, acrylic on canvas. Installed behind the bar. The theme was Caribbean in the 20’s. Acrylic on canvas. I painted about 10 similar murals from Maui to Dubai, but only got photos of a few, since they were installed in far flung areas. Photography: Marjorie Wallace
Commercial mural, Tommy Bahama flagship store, Los Vegas, 9x16’, Acrylic on canvas. Note that the monkey is offering the toucan some poker chips! Photography: Marjorie Wallace
Commercial mural, Palace Kitchen restaurant, Seattle, 6x30’. Acrylic on canvas. Tom Douglas, my client, wanted a painting of a kitchen staff having a party downstairs after serving the banquet upstairs. He wanted a mural full of food, sexy and fun. I researched 17th century food and costumes and kitchens and there are several references to famous European paintings and characters in this mural! Photography: Robert Pisano
Commercial mural Tommy Bahama lady’s retail. Maui. 8x5’ Parrots and bamboo. Acrylic on canvas.
Commercial mural LC Jergens Paint Company. Acrylic on plaster. 6x4’. Note paint brush and draped drop cloth at the top of cartouche.
Commercial mural curtains for a small movie theatre. Each side 8x5’. Acrylic on canvas.
Commercial vignettes. I must have done 20 of these for Tommy Bahama. They needed them for areas above their shelves. All in the theme of a 1920’s gentleman naturalist/scholar/explorer.
*Commercial Murals Notes
Smaller Murals: My smaller murals in this category are labeled commercial because I painted them for commercial companies or as promos for trade shows or Salon exhibitions, an international decorative art association of which I am part.
Process: To learn about how I create a mural, please visit my Mural Making Process page.
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