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Jungle critters to prowl newborn's nursery

An artist who doubles as a Busch Gardens animal trainer brings a bit of the wildinside the room that will soon nestle the family's newest member.

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published July 7, 2006

TAMPA - Missy and Ken Brazle always liked having animals around the house.

After all, Missy, an artist with dreams of illustrating children's books, works as an animal trainer at Busch Gardens.

So, when the couple learned they were expecting their first child, they decided they needed a mural in the guest-bedroom-turned-nursery in their 1,800-square-foot Key West style home in Palma Ceia.

Missy, 32, who painted murals at the Columbus Zoo in her native Columbus, Ohio, and has designed Christmas cards for Busch Gardens, knew the mural would feature animals.

"Kenny wanted a sloth - I work with one at work and it's definitely one of our favorite animals," Missy said of the colorful mural she painted in about two weeks.

The large mural, which she designed herself, features a menagerie of critters peering around a large, leafy tree, including their African pied crow, Simone, who lives in an aviary out back.

"We also decided to include a tiger, snake, giraffe - and, of course, a crow.

"We thought it would be cool if they were looking down at the baby."

Thanks to some established techniques that simplify the process, do-it-yourself children's murals are more popular than ever, according to Kate Repka, a manager at AOE Supply, an independently owned fine art supply business in north Hillsborough.

"In fact, we have people who come in for the supplies to do a bedroom or bathroom and then their friends and family see it and want the same thing," Repka said.

Though it helps to possess some artistic talent or a sense of visual proportion, it's not a requirement when painting a children's mural - or any mural.

The trick is transferring the image onto the wall with an opaque projector. The device allows you to project onto the wall a favorite picture - be it Curious George or a Beatrix Potter rabbit.

Opaque projectors - sold at AOE and other craft stores - start at about $50 and go up to $1,000, but a basic model will "help you get the general outline of the picture - lips, eyes, nose," Repka said.

There's no limit to the images you can select from - including Disney characters - "as long as it's just for your own home," she said.

You might also want to consider trompe l'oeil - a highly realistic, eye-fooling depiction of, say, a window - when depicting a storybook scene, but that can take a certain amount of skill, Repka said.

So, if you have limited artistic ability, stick with the easy stuff, like a no-brainer surfing motif.

Or purchase one of a series of picture books published by Dover that offer bold outlines of animals, plants, historical figures, even cartoons.

"The books are basically coloring books, but they project well and can help the beginning drawer."

To paint a mural on interior drywall, you will need little prep work.

A tip sheet on mural painting by the DIY Network suggests fixing any wall imperfections with Spackle or sandpaper before painting.

Use acrylic paint. It's easy to paint over with interior latex when your child gets older and no longer likes the mural.

Oil paint, on the other hand, Repka explained, is very hard to paint over.

Also, she advised, stick with a better grade of acrylic paint.

While student grade paints will do the trick, they're more prone to fading - something you want to avoid, especially if you've put a lot of work into the project.

Although Missy Brazwell is a trained artist - she holds a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Ohio State University and has her own Web site, www.bluefeatherart.com - she said that painting a children's mural is a doable project for the novice painter if the project is broken down and taken in steps.

If you're not skilled at painting, choose an image that's essentially "blocks of simple color," she said. "Try to do something that's almost paint by number and doesn't involve any shading."

"Mine took 16 hours start to finish, which is not bad because I like to work fast," she said of the animal mural that she completed just a few weeks ago.

"But it's really important not to push until you're frustrated."

She recommends working an hour or two a day, time permitting, then shutting the door and walking away.

Also, she said, break the project down into small goals that are easily completed in short blocks of time. "That way," she said, "you approach it again the next day with a fresh eye."

She's pleased with the final result of her own mural, one that would appeal to either a boy or a girl, though had she been having a girl, she explains with a laugh, she would have painted in several flamingoes.

For the pink.

Little Ethan is due in September.

[Last modified July 5, 2006, 13:20:31]