The acronym to know is GAP: Grants for Artist Projects.  It is part of Artist Trust, a Washington organization that hooks up artists with grants.  An incredible resource that I am so honored to receive.

To make a long story short, after months of waiting and wondering, I just found out I was selected!  60 artists from authors to musicians to photographers were picked out of 600 some applications.  I am beyond stoked.  I now have funding for the paint and to rent a boom lift to reach those hard to reach places on walls that are way beyond the reach of an aluminum ladder.

My project on their website is as follows:

Marlin will use 2011 GAP funding to paint a large public mural in Seattle that is both staggering to the viewer for its size and subject, and amusingly perplexing for its “trompe l’oeil” realism. The majority of the cost will be the rental of a boom lift to reach high onto the wall. This will allow the mural to be able to be completed fast, and give it the great size and scope that will make it a landmark and an icon.

What this description leaves out is what I will be painting on the wall in question.  What exactly is “trompe l’oeil”?  Good question.  It is French for ‘deceive the eye’. Basically it is painting extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.

My mural will be 2 huge, huge Opiliones arachnids hanging out like we always see them, casually and vertically on a wall.  They will be approximately 1 zillion times life-size, depending on the wall site I get.  To achieve the trompe l’oeil effect, I will utilize my years of scientific illustration to sketch the cuties from real specimens.  But perhaps most important will be shiny highlights added to the exoskeletal plates, and the drop-shadow effect I will paint onto the flat wall.  It will appear that the Daddy Long Legs are casting their shadows from our very own midday sun.  Why I chose them as my subjects are their long legs; particularly how the shadow will pop their little round hub-like bodies way off the wall when the shadow is done correctly.  To do this I will make miniature models of them and shine lights at the ideal angle to project the perfect “drop shadow” for that site, so that hopefully to the passersby it appears that the beautiful beasts are indeed 3 dimensional.

If anyone has ideas for the perfect smooth wall in Seattle, I am all ears.

Please let me know what you think!