Create
A little rain won’t stop SHINE artist Mason Schwacke
After a 24-hour rain delay, the manta ray and the scalloped hammerhead shark are getting detail work done today. Like all of the SHINE Mural Festival artists, Mason Schwacke was unable to work on his “Sea Wall” Wednesday because of Tropical Storm Eta.
“I was definitely banking on having yesterday as a full day,” Schwacke said as he unpacked his paints early Thursday afternoon. “I took off time from my 9-to-5.”
The wall, at 1400 3rd Street South, is 12 feet tall and 43 feet wide. Schwacke and fellow artist C.J. Thomas began work on the nautical scene last Saturday, the opening day of SHINE 2020.
Thursday’s tasks will include: Detail work on two of the marine creatures, and “stippling” the bottom of the image.
SHINE is scheduled to end this Saturday, Nov. 14. “It’s going to get done, if we have to come back after the festival just for an hour or two, just to tighten some things up,” said Schwacke. Both artists live in the city.
“I don’t want it to look ‘good enough.’ Both C.J. and I want it to look good, for us.”
Each of the 11 city-wide murals-in-progress has its own oceanic theme, all of them tied together under the banner of environmental protection. SHINE is presented by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, in conjunction with the PangeaSeed Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
The ray, the hammerhead, the sawfish and the white-tip shark – all featured in the Schwacke mural – are classified as species at risk (the sawfish and the white-tip will be ready for their close-ups, Mr. DeMille, come Friday).
“The ocean-theme murals have kind of become a staple of St. Pete in a way, all around the community,” Thomas said. “We’re just trying to make one that looks a little different, and still fulfills all the guidelines that NOAA wanted to incorporate this year.”
The neighborhood, Thomas added, has been more than receptive to the real-time creation. “They brought us some chocolate chip cookies,” he said, “and everybody’s been really friendly, stopping by, chatting here and there when they’re on their bike rides or walks.”
The building’s owner, Jan Hawk, dropped by Thursday to check on things and seemed pleased with Schwacke and Thomas’ progress.
Schwacke said the rest of the day would be taken up continued work on the “sand” at the bottom of the wide image – degrees of tan and colored tones, applied by a painstaking method called stippling. “It’s really, really monotonous,” he explained, “but it looks really good after everything is done. It gives it more motion and depth.”
Playing a little catch-up, Schwacke concluded, is just part of the process. Unexpected things do come up.
“We had planned on masking out the windows – Jan gave us the go-ahead – and then we came to find out the windows won’t close,” he said. “We’ll figure it out when the time comes.
“That’s the least of my worries. I want to get the main, focal points done. All the other stuff is just easy-peasy.”
Who’s working where? The SHINE map is here.
By comnparison, here’s how the mural looked early Tuesday afternoon.
