A few years ago, a good friend of mine was planning to remodel his daughter’s bedroom, and they wanted the theme to be the ocean. They saw an image of a turtle they liked and asked me for advice on how to paint it on their wall.
I am not a commission type of artist. When I paint something, it has to come from the heart and my guide is the passionand magic that the particular image or person I am painting for is inspiring. That’s how I am in pretty much everything I do.
When I was asked for advice I found myself offering to paint it instead and, to my surprise, my friend accepted.
I was an oil, still life artist that was in a lot of trouble. There I was sitting, at my studio, trying to figure out how I got into this mess. I had never painted a mural before. I had never even painted with acrylics before and I certainly never had painted a turtle before.
I had a few weeks before the date I was given to do the job, so I started drawing, practicing on paper, then on my studio wall.
I was very nervous. recall that I am an extremely slow artist; I paint using the old masters method. I make my art using layers and now I was going to paint on a wall, as fast as possible using paint that I wasn’t familiar with.
The day came and i headed to my friends home on a Saturday morning, ready for the challenge.
It took me two days; the first one, Saturday, i transferred the turtle and shark drawings on the wall. My friend painted the shark and whale’s tail while I was doing the turtle. Between coffee, snacks, music, wine and chat breaks, it took me about 10 hours.
I remember leaving that night with a huge headache. I was tired of pretending I wasn’t tense. I was worried because, of course, I wanted to do a good job. This was not a canvas they could just throw away if she didn’t like it… It was a huge responsibility.
The next morning, it took me about another 7 hours to finish. Although painting on a wall is difficult and uncomfortable, not to mention using methods that weren’t my forte, I think the results were pretty good. I believe my friend’s daughter, loved her turtle.
Before I left they gave me a gift card to an art store attached to a beautiful hand made, “thank you,” card from Olivia and a gorgeous basil plant that made my way back home a pleasantly fragrant one.
You would think that was the beginning and the end for my history of painting turtles, but it wasn’t… Soon after I was asked to donate a painting of that very same turtle to my childrens’ school auction, a yearly event that takes place every first week of December, and I agreed.
It took me two weeks! I have never painted so fast on a canvas before.
I decided to name my painting, “Olivia the Turtle” in honor of Olivia, my friend’s daughter and the reason I painted my first turtle. It just made perfect sense to me.
The night of the auction, the painting was a little sensation. Starting from $25, it escalated in price throughout the night leaving the fight between someone present at the auction, and someone absent. It was tight, and the absent person won. It was Paul. the friend I painted the mural for, He bought it for his daughter as a Christmas present, for Olivia. :)
It’s believed that paintings should be made in sets of three, so the following year I painted a third one and named it, “Into the depths”.
This is the story of my three turtles, which I have the feeling won’t end here. As you now know, the turtle on that September morning came from my heart, but a piece of it will remain with me forever.
*Fun and special secret fact about the three paintings, all of them have a heart on them, the Mural and "Olivia the Turtle" have them in their beaks, but "Into the depths" turtle has it a little more hidden "*
Ursula Brutton
