Some areas and figures in the Hallowell mural went in solidly after long and careful planning. However, the birds near the top of the mural started as an abstract concept in my head–I wanted birds but somehow abstracted birds, perhaps out of folded paper, flying in front of a realistic scene. I did sketch in the drawing pad, which is the only sane way to plan a section of a mural. But what can I say, sometimes I like to just jump in with paint and see what happens.

These are some phases of how these birds evolved over time. I am pretty sure they are almost done. Sad to see some of the birds that fly in then fly out again, but the mural has to be the final judge of what stays. And as I have found, something that disappears from one painting often shows up in another.

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Here I have local Hallowellians of various periods of time standing, sitting and climbing the scaffolding that was erected around the 36 foot granite “Faith” sculpture that was carved here in Hallowell in the 1880’s.

This is a section near the top of the mural. I have been going over various parts to pull up details and add finishing touches. This is Benjamin Vaughan and on the right is a small section of the scene depicting the midwife Martha Ballard delivering a baby.

This is the large “Faith” sculpture that was carved in Hallowell in the late 1880’s. She is 36 feet tall, carved from local granite and she is the largest granite sculpture in the United States. She is the centerpiece figure of the National Monument to the Forefathers, in Plymouth Massachusetts.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Monument_to_the_Forefathers)

Here I was adding or layering the granite textures. I had build the forms of her head with simple gray tone paint but that makes her looks like dull concrete. So to build a bright, clear grained, Hallowell granite I splattered many layers of lighter paints on top until it had the density of texture and natural stone-ness that I wanted.

The 36-foot figure of Faith was based on a 9-foot plaster model by William Rimmer in 1875,[6] that was enlarged and altered by Joseph Edward Billings and a sculptor named Perry (probably John D. Perry). The subsidiary statues were executed by area sculptors including Alexander Doyle, Carl Conrads, and James H. Mahoney.

This is Hannah Dole. I am including her in the Hallowell Mural.

So, what does it take to include a figure in a history mural?

Fortunately, Kate Trembly had an old portrait of Hannah Dole for me to work from, for likeness. However, my job is not just copying an old portrait onto the mural. My job is to animate her, bring her to life, and fit her into the “plot” of the mural. And while doing so, show her intelligence and the kindness in her soul.

Hannah Dole is going in the mural as she might have appeared in 1830. One of my first tasks is researching clothing of the period. I need to be careful to get this accurate to the time.

Would she be wearing the latest fashion? Or slightly older clothing? Modest or flamboyant?

I focused on clothing from the Late Regency and mid Antebellum periods in America— and pre Victorian period which began in 1837. Queen Victoria inspired a big change in clothing style again. But I am looking for clothes from roughly late 1820’s to 1830.

Women’s clothing changed a lot from the mid to late Regency period with the empire silhouette—1812-1820’s. Here is a very flowing empire style dress. A flowing style that accentuated the bust, neck and shoulders, with flowing, draping fabric.

Then sleeves began to get large just below the shoulder. Hairstyles changed. The bodice changed to a much more structured fit with waist stays to cinch in and accentuate the waist.

The type of fabric is very important too. You paint stiff fabric in a different manner than soft and flowing, draping fabric. Also, for what I need Hannah Dole would be wearing a dress she might wear to walk around town, not a fancy dinner gown. So lots of research.

The puff of the leg of mutton or gigot sleeves, shifted down the arm a few years later so I have to watch for details like this to make sure I hit the right time frame of fashion. And these large sleeves disappeared completely with the coronation of Queen Victoria and the advent of a new more sedate style.

Undergarments are supremely important. The dress she is wearing needs the support of the undergarments to fit right. So I need to see what those undergarments looked like. In this picture, the woman is wearing 3 petticoats and a small layered bustle to give the dress its volume. And full leg of mutton sleeves needed padding to maintain their puff.

Here is a fascinating youTube video on the undergarments worn in the 1830’s.

For the mural I am having Hannah Dole in a different pose from the portrait we have of her. So I used another model to pose how I wanted. I blocked in this figure and then used that head form as the starter recipe, if you will, to modify into how I wanted Hannah Dole to look. Changed the nose, the chin the cheekbones, etc. So this….

…became this.

And Jen posed so I could get some arms to use for this pose. But that is tomorrow’s work.

There are over 100 figures in the mural and each one presents his or her own challenges to paint them right.

More on why I am including Hannah Dole, and specifically in 1830, in another post.

How can you represent our fine Hallowell without showing music, dance and the arts? I have just begun the arts section and this is part of the larger than life figures that will form the backdrop for the musicians and dancers.

NOTE: 11/14/21, this section of the Hallowell mural is now completely repainted. So goes art.

Started adding in a few people from our military representing those from our town who served.

The last couple of weeks for the Hallowell Mural I’ve been refining some of the details of parts that had been blocked in.

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Exciting day, we started building the mural studio.

Yesterday, finally, Jen and I moved all the fascinating stuff in my new, temporary, Firehouse Mural Studio. The City of Hallowell has allowed me to work in the large second floor room in the old Firehouse. This gives me an 11 x 30+ foot wall to work on large sections of the mural at once. This is going to be wonderful—much bigger than the 10 x 10 foot largest space in my regular studio.

That wall on the second floor was lined with many glass display cases of fascinating old firehouse paraphernalia—and a lot of it heavy. In days of old they built things well. So, with permission from local historians and City powers that be, Jen and I carefully moved everything well away from the “mural” wall. It was a bit of work. But now everything is tucked safely away—ensuring that no Firehouses shall be harmed in the production of this mural.

Last night we took a trip to the lumber yard and bought all the supplies for the temporary “mural easel”. Basically, plywood, 12 foot 2 x 4’s, screws and lots of plastic and canvas drop cloths. Today Jen and I will be over at the Firehouse building an 11 x 24 foot temporary plywood wall/easel. This will be free standing—with padded feet to protect the nice floor—and go against the large wall space we cleared yesterday.

Then I will be able to mount my mural canvas on this temporary plywood wall/easel and begin the next months of work on large areas of the Hallowell Mural.

It is an exciting day seeing the Hallowell Mural Project get to this phase—huge new mural easels are very enticing things.