Cava Mezze Mural 2

About a year ago I was contacted again by the owners of Cava Mezze and Cava Mezze Grill (locations in Clarendon, Bethesda Row,  Columbia Heights, Capitol Hill, Tysons, and Rockville) and was asked to do two murals for their new location in Clarendon, VA.  They wanted me to paint one of them using the characters from the Capitol Hill mural I did for them 2 years before (see it here) and the second mural would be of a couple at  a cafe.

After talking with them we decided that there wouldn't be enough time between the end of construction and the opening of the restaurant to paint the mural on location. So what to do? The owners decided to have me paint on canvas and they had them scanned, enlarged, printed on long adhesive strips and then hung up like wallpaper in the restaurant!

I finally had a chance to get over to see it in person and document them (sorry about the poor quality of the photos).  Turned out really well!

Rough Sketch 1

final Drawing 1

Rough Sketch 2

Final Drawing 2

Cava Mezze Mural

By the time my show, La Vida Intensa at Hillyer Art Space, was in full swing, I got an email from an Interior designer doing work for a new Greek restaurant on Capitol Hill. Apparently she had picked up one of my postcards at my tent during last year’s Arts on Foot (another lesson in getting out there to be seen) and wanted me to paint a mural for the new place. The opportunity was too great to pass up even though we were busy packing for our trip to introduce our son to my wife’s family in Argentina, so I accepted.

It had been a while since I had painted a mural, so it was interesting to have to think again about what paint to use, how to get up there (scaffolding), and how to transfer my final drawing onto the wall. In the end everything went smoothly, I finished in one week; one day before we left for our trip and three days before the restaurant opened.

For those of you interested in checking out the mural and want to sample the really delicious food, head over to Cava Mezze on 8 st SE in Capitol Hill (just a couple of doors down from the new Matchbox).