Mural #46
Franklin Elementary School
Franklin, TN
Flowers #1,520 - #1,592 of 10,000
Completed November 2021
Chapter 7… The last stop.
With my new companion on board, we headed east for Franklin, Tennessee! We drove through the night. When the sun rose, it revealed a new and familiar terrain. Gone were the days of flat plains and coffee-colored landscapes, we were back to pine trees and green forests.
When we arrived in the parking lot, I was greeted by the art teacher, Miss Alvarado and Blake the dog. We only had 7 days to work on the mural before the school closed for Thanksgiving break. We jumped straight into work and got everything sketched out. This mural marked the first time I sketched out the design in black paint as opposed to chalk or crayon. This would end up being the new standard moving forward as it makes things so much easier for the students to paint within the lines. Over the course of two days we had every student from the school come through the hallway and help fill in the flowers. We even had Blake sign the wall with a painty paw print. I only had two days to finish the mural once the students were done so I jumped in and started painting the background color and outlines. It was down to the wire. The paint was still drying as I left with the custodians Friday evening. The plan was to spend the night in the school parking lot and leave for home the next morning.
When I woke up the next morning something was bothering me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had left the mural unfinished. Everything was cleaned up and outlined but that last 5%, the second coat of some of the black outlining, the not-so-sharp edges on a few of the bigger flowers. Things probably only I would notice but none the less, I couldn’t call it completely finished. So, Bailey and I chilled in the parking lot behind a closed Franklin Elementary. We went on walks, did a deep cleaning of the bus for the trip back and had a Thanksgiving feast fit for a king. Ground turkey, cranberry sauce, cheesecake and half of a scrambled egg mixed into some Friskie’s. One of my best Thanksgivings ever.
The following Monday when the school opened back up, I popped back in and knocked up the last 5%. It’s a good thing I did stay another week, as it turns out there was still one last mural to paint before heading back to Pa…
