Coming Full Circle with a Massive Mural Project

Ten years ago, before I was back doing my art full-time, I was approached by a dear friend of mine, Julia. She was opening up a veterinary clinic, which had been a lifelong dream of hers. They asked me to help design their logo as I was doing some part-time freelance design work at that time. The logo captured just what they were looking for, so they asked me to help expand their visual mark by painting a large mural in the main hallway at their clinic. I had created two other murals for Julia before this at her home. However, this was my first public mural. As you can see from the photos below my work was much less developed at that time.

But over the years the mural left its mark. Julia shared with me how on particularly hard days, staff would sometimes walk by and touch the soothing image. It created an atmosphere of calm and joy in the clinic. Now, ten years later, their business has grown so much they are expanding into a larger building. Julia approached me again. This time not for one mural, but six of them! There will be two in the lobby, two in the hallways, and one very large outdoor shed will be painted from top to bottom on all sides. What an incredible project!

I started this past week, and already completed the first mural. This mural has tremendous meaning for the clinic. It’s two dogs, named Henry and Lexie.

Henry, pictured on the left, was a long-time client of Harmony Vet’s. He was considered by staff, friends, and family, as one of the most joyful, sweet, and loving dogs they ever met. Henry was ALWAYS smiling, and loved to share his toys with everyone. Sadly, he passed away two months ago. His owners were very moved to see Henry’s smiling face on this mural.

The dog on the right is Lexie. Lexie is a Burmese Mountain Dog, and the mascot of Harmony’s nonprofit the Lexie Fund. When Lexie was just 5 months old she was diagnosed with Spinal Meningitis. At the time of her diagnosis, the family had an application in for pet insurance, but Lexie’s condition wouldn’t be covered. Due to this debilitating illness and their lack of funds to treat it, they thought their only option was to put Lexie down. The clinic staff all agreed this wasn’t an option, so they took custody of Lexie and did some serious fundraising to get her treated. Community members, other doctors, even some of the major pet pharmaceutical companies all pitched in to help Lexie. The Lexie Fund was born! Now she is a happy, healthy, grown adult dog living a wonderful life with her family. She comes to the clinic several days a week to hang out with the team that saved her life. Lexie is a very special and grateful dog! And the Lexie Fund has gone on to help many other animals in similar situations.

These mural projects will be unfolding over the next few months, so please subscribe to my newsletter to receive more stories.

If you are interested in having your own mural created for your home or business, you can contact me at kyra@infuse.gallery.