Painting Dragons: A Journey Back to Creativity - Part Three

Mural headboard detail

Mind-Melding for Artistic Directions

The very next day, my host walked me to the back room that he wanted transformed. It was a cold, plain bedroom, the size of a large walk-in closet, hidden at the back of the house with a curtain separating it from the rest of the laundry room.

It was adequate for a bone-weary traveler, but not a place you’d want to spend too much time in its current condition ergo the mural. It had potential.

“Warmth,” “outdoors in”, and “vines,” were some of the off-the-cuff ideas we tossed around to give the room some character as we inspected it inch by inch.

We migrated back to the kitchen to continue the discussion and sat down on the wooden stools that lived under the kitchen island. The kitchen looked like it had sprung right out of the glossy pages of a chic, design magazines. It had stone floors, ceramic tile counters, stainless steel fridge, stainless steel stove and high-end sink.

Chestnut wood cabinets and shelves lined the walls and on the island, were two glass jars of fermenting kombucha. The kitchen felt lived-in, worked-in and well-cared for.

“Really, it’s okay. Whatever you feel like doing. I always failed my art classes in college anyway,” he confirms. “I don’t know a thing about art. This... is all part of the experience.”

Said the guy who designed a bamboo fence, built a micro sweat lodge in his garden, decorated the bed and breakfast like a spiritual retreat, cooks like a michelin chef, and boldly dresses in muted yellow polka dots shorts, contrasting green sweaters, and gray socks.”

In my book, such complete trust was both freeing and an excellent recipe for disaster - without a plan and considering that we now had only twelve days left.

Thinking a mile a minute, I grilled him some more. “Is there anything that’s especially important to you? Any there other feelings you want to convey to your guests when they enter this room? When they’re about to sleep?"

 “Nah. I’m sure it will be spectacular” he encouraged breezily.

He adds a heart-beat later, “I actually love the idea of bringing the outdoors in, and somehow... connect with the culture of the place and...find a way to bring the dragon fruit into the picture as well.”

The dragon fruit, Pitaya in Spanish, grew wild in his backyard. It’s a native Guatemalan cactus that produced a deep purple, spiky fruit. It tasted, he explains, like sweetly flavored, crunchy water.

At this, I nodded with fervor. Now we’re talking. I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about but it was perfect intel to get the creative juices flowing. I dug out my old notes about conscious design in my computer files and re-acquainted myself with this holistic, multilayered design framework that did an excellent job at integrating the needs of people, the planet and profit. 

Engrossed in the creative flow, I lost track of time and finally went to sleep at dawn, my colored pencils and travel journal, scattered all over the bed.

By late morning, I had a design proposal with 3 options, a goal articulation list, the legend of the Pitaya, a color palette and a Pinterest inspiration board full of ideas from Mandalas to Dragons.

Greg was stunned, and I think, pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t expect this level of thoroughness.”

“Well, I wanted to make sure that we ended up with something we both liked.”

He drawled out contemplatively, “ hmm...you have a point.”

 It seemed that it just dawned on him that we had no time to loose if he ever wanted this mural to see this mural take shape before he left again in seven days, this time for a 6-month trip to Spain.

 I would be on my own towards the end of the project. Fine by me, but I wanted him to have the opportunity to enjoy it before then.

Dragon fruit mural detail

As this reality sunk in, over the next couple of days, we reviewed three cardboard prototypes, choosing to combine two of his favorites.

Prototype #3

 We settled on a color scheme. It was really happening. I was paying my way around the world with nothing more than my creative skills and my ingenouity - just like Olivia!

A Blue-eyed Dragon

Acrylic mural based on one of the Dragon fruit legends

Standing in front of the sketch on the wall now, I open my eyes, brush in hand and contemplate in awe what my host had help me manifest:

A curious dragon, with a crystalline blue eye, its serpentine, spiny body twisting its way around the room, blessing it with its fiery fruits in the early morning light. The dragon is not fully hatched yet.

Parts of it still lives in the abstract world in my mind's eye. I can almost see its fragile tendrils gently reaching for me. This dragon wants to desperately be born. The only feeling I could related it to at the time was that of an echo of a distant dream, one that's right on the verge of being fully remembered, in full detail, all at once.

That's when it dawned on me what this entire journey was all about. 

 My artistic ability spark never left me. I sincerely thought it did, but it didn't. It’s always been here, even after years of rusting away under neglect and the pursuit of "practical things".

All this time, it's been waiting patiently for a powerful catalyst to be reborn. This simple project in Antigua, surprisingly embodied all the ingredients necessary to reconnect one my fundamental but forgotten aspects: The Artist.

As I dip the brush lightly in a mixture of blue-green paint, I feel the familiar stirrings of anticipation, excitement and creative energy merging into a singular flow state.

Then the flow started accelerating, enveloping me in a haze of creativity. I could have sworn that I was poised to take flight just like the mystical beast staring right back at me.

Mural painting in Antigua Guatemala using acrylics and the Pitaya as inspiration.