Chatting with Skip

The Colonel and I love the town we live in. One of the reasons we love it are the many beautiful murals that can be found around town. There are currently 30 finished murals.

The Punta Gorda Historic Mural Society (established 1994) is the entity that helps to make these murals a reality. Their mission is to preserve the rich history of the area through the beauty of mural art. They are part of the Florida Mural Trail.

The Colonel and I have helped to sponsor two of the finished murals. The first one we sponsored is entitled Our First Firehouse (2017). This mural is located in Fire Station #1, on the north and south bay walls. It depicts a slice of time in the fire station's history. It was painted by Skip Dyrda.

 Image from the PGHMS website

Image from the PGHMS website

Skip is an extremely talented artist. The details he incorporates within his paintings are incredible (he paints a red string in his works of art). The Fire Station's mural has over 52 items within the painting that you can search for (the mural society has a card that lists the items you can search for while visiting the mural). 

The second finished mural The Colonel and I helped to sponsor is called Ladies Remembered (2018). This mural is located on the walls of Bayside Eye Center in town. This mural presents seven women who were part of the area's history. The ladies range from the early years to more recent times. Their contributions came through various areas such as, education, business, history, healthcare, government and social causes. These ladies made a lasting impression upon the community. This mural was also painted by Skip Dyrda (I am sensing a pattern here in our mural sponsorship).

 Image from PGHMS website

Image from PGHMS website

  Image from PGHMS website

The Colonel and I have sponsored our third mural. The town's 31st mural is entitled Tails from the Harbor (2019). This mural will depict the rich marine life in Charlotte Harbor. It is currently being painted by Skip Dyrda (Yes, a definite pattern in our mural sponsorship).

A few weeks ago, The Colonel and I were strolling along the town's Harborwalk with My-Favorite-Mother-In-Law. The newest mural is situated along the Harborwalk, under the southbound U.S. 41 bridge that crosses the Peace River.

Skip Dyrda was working on the 31st mural the day we went strolling by.

We stopped to watch Skip at work and told him that we were sponsors of the mural and that we also sponsored the other two murals he had painted. We told him we are great admirers of his work.

I stayed behind and chatted with Skip as The Colonel and his mother walked a bit further along the Harborwalk.

I was glad that Skip took some time out of his painting to chat with me. He told me that the angle of the concrete under the bridge was a bit of a challenge when it came to painting the mural. The angle could make the fish in the painting appear too thin if he did not account for it. He also said that leaning over to paint all day could cause some strain on his lower back.

The mural is looking great! Skip has such an eye for detail. Remember I mentioned he paints a red string in each of his paintings?

And just look at the bug coming out of a crack in the weathered, wooden board.

I love the "Captain Nemo-ish" look of the portholes. I also love the rich colors...the Tarpons below look beautiful.

Below is the sketch of what the mural will look like when it is done and it is scheduled to be completed in April or May.

The Colonel and I are looking forward to the mural's dedication day. We attended the dedications of the other two murals we sponsored. A large crowd of townspeople as well as city and county dignitaries attend the dedications. At the firehouse mural dedication, there was a Bar-B-Que with all the fixins and at the ladies mural, all kinds of delicious finger-foods and desserts were served.

Given the depiction of local marine life in mural number 31, I wonder, will a fish fry be part of the dedication day?