Stencil Transfer Day: Cortez, Colorado Takes Its Place
Today was stencil transfer day.
I arrived at the park around 7:00 in the morning and began working on the four corner designs for mural panel #6. The morning hours are important out here. The desert sun becomes a serious factor around 10:30 onwards, so I am learning to work with the cooler window while I have it.
After the corner designs, I moved to the “Cortez, Colorado” stencil.
That was the moment the mural asked me to solve a problem.
The stencil did not land quite the way I originally expected. It needed adjusting. The spacing and placement had to be corrected so the words would sit properly within the design. Younger artist me might have panicked over that. Older artist me looked at it, breathed, and found the solution.
I centered the words.
I shortened the end boxes.
I adjusted the layout.
And it worked.
That felt like a quiet victory.
One of the gifts of being an older artist is that I do not mistake every problem for failure anymore. Sometimes a problem is just the artwork asking for a better decision. Sometimes the fix becomes part of the strength of the final piece.
Today I felt grateful.
Grateful to be painting something this large.
Grateful to have the chance to create a public artwork.
Grateful that my body allowed me to show up.
Grateful that I could solve the problem calmly and keep moving.
A large artwork takes skill, time, and money. Did I mention money? Yes, it costs money to create at this size and supplies are not cheap, and exterior work requires real preparation. But a skilled artist learns how to plan, how to stretch supplies wisely, how to find the best deals, and how to make each stage count.
This mural is also helping me see a future path more clearly.
I want to build a Kit Swan Artworks Mural Portfolio along side my other artworks.
I want to look into contractor discounts for exterior paint and mural supplies.
I want to keep learning how to bring my work into larger public spaces, homes, businesses, and community settings.
Today, “Cortez, Colorado” found its place on the board.
And with that, the mural became a little more real.
~Kit S.
Kit Swan Artworks: Create something beautiful today.
