Megan McKeithan of Visionary Mural Co. created this magical tree mural in the Wellstar Medical Group, ENT Associates of North Georgia Doctor’s Offices located in the Kennestone Outpatient Pavilion just outside of Atlanta in Marietta, GA. Kristen Ericson of Facility Design & Relocation Inc. asked Megan to help her create a complete environment with her vision of a 3D tree in the children’s play area in the lobby. Kristen cleverly planned walls to mask a support column in the corner of the large space. She designed kid-sized openings in the walls so they could crawl “through” the tree and matched them to the arched opening off of the waiting room. She asked Megan to paint the illusion of a tree stretching across the protruding corner, and to coordinate the mural with the colors of the adjacent room and wooden finish of the writing counters she planned to install on the tree’s trunk…
This video shows the in progress creation of the mural from base coats through drawing and painting. Megan created a fantasy tree that seems to stretch up into the sky by designing contours that coordinate with the actual 3D arched openings and diminish in scale as they move up the wall, helping to create the foreshortened effect. You can see the contour lines she drew in chalk over the base coated tree walls. Megan selected colors for the basecoats that coordinated with the walls paint and fabrics Kristen selected for the office. The color of the tree, for example, is several steps darker on the same paint line as the wall color of the lobby. She also used the shapes and colors of the leaves on fabrics from the furnishings to help coordinate the mural with the surrounding interior design. She painted a park like setting around the tree to complete the environment. The bright sky blues echo Kristen’s Italian land and sea scape artwork selections in the adjacent room and transition down to a bright white horizon, giving the illusion of depth and atmosphere to the space. Birds and butterflies soar across the sky while animals poke their heads out of the grassy surroundings and tree roots. Red poppies add bright color and coordinate with those in the artwork throughout the health care office. Megan even painted a squirrel, caterpillar, and bees inside the tree as a secret for the kids to discover. This children’s mural creates exactly the complete environment Kristen was looking for while coordinating with the contemporary styling of the rest of the medical office…
Megan McKeithan paints much larger murals in a vast array of themes and styles, visit www.VisionaryMuralCo.com to see more of her portfolio and learn more about murals, trompe l’oeil illusions, and complete environments.
