Orvis
"So early in my life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise." Malcom X
Ahhhhh... finally, it's done! Nothing beats that feeling of accomplishment -- of looking back and being able to see the late nights, hours on your hands and knees, and excruciating back aches all coming to a close. If you've driven down Broadway in Jackson Hole recently, you may have noticed a new addition to the Orvis building -- 50 feet of nearly fluorescent colored trout. In my oh-so-typical fashion of making waves, with bright colors and bold lines, my 50 feet, or five fish spanning ten feet each, were installed this past Tuesday on the South side of the Orvis building.
Back Story
This past Spring, I was working on a mural project with Jackson Hole Public Art and Friends of Pathways at Summit High School when Carrie Geraci, the director of Public Art, sent me an email proposing that I apply for the Orvis commission. About 5 artists were asked to apply with a proposal of what they would install on the exterior South facing wall of the building. Over the next few weeks I drew up a proposal using previous paintings that I manipulated in Photoshop and sketched out on a drawing board and my proposal was chosen.
The Process
Once my proposal was selected, the work began. I now had to figure out how to create this monster of a piece! What kind of metal was I going to use? How was I going to get the metal cut into the shapes I needed? Jackson Hole Public Art was a huge help in guiding me on this journey and I'm grateful for all of the people that helped me along the way.
The first step was manipulating the design. I must have changed it about three or four times in Photoshop and we finally settled on the five trout swimming to the water. The cutouts were taken from two different original paintings of mine, Waterway and Cutty, that sold a few years back.
The second was driving out to Rexburg, ID to meet with Premier Powdercoating to discuss my options for metal, feeling the different metals and deciding how much detail I wanted when the metal was laser cut. These guys were awesome, I'm really looking forward to working with them again in the future.
From there, once the fish were approved and cut, I had to travel with five ten feet fish strapped in the back of my pickup truck over Teton Pass -- that was fun... and scary... and I soooo wish I had a photo of that, but I was just really happy to get those suckers out of the truck and into the two car garage that I laid them out in to paint over the next month.
Then came the painting. I had to first prime them. Then I painted them. Then came the multiple layers of sculptor's UV, chemical and weather protectant. Then the Z-Bars to hang them. AND ALL THE COFFEE for the late nights -- let's not forget the coffee.
Now that they're installed, I'm speechless. They look incredible! I'm grateful for the entire team. It really does take a village, as cheesy as it sounds!