Artistic Murals by Tamara Gerkin

Presents:

KOA Fiesta Key, Florida

3 INTERIOR SWIMMING POOL WALLS 

Day 1: I painted blue primer on all three white walls to ensure that the mural would adhere to the under painting.

 

    

 

Day 2: I spent the day blocking in basic shapes and overall compositional design.       

 

Day 3 & 4: Under the protection of an umbrella, I developed the painting in sectional stages.

Day 5: I'm terribly sun-burnt after spending 10-12 hours in the hot tropical sun despite using SPF Sunscreen   and trying my best to stay under the umbrella. I was grateful for the occasional dip in the KOA pool.

Days 6 & 7: I blocked in Larry's Grouper to show it exiting a hole in the reef & the spotted Moray eel.

Days 8: Unfortunately I had not learned how to use my new digital camera so the color is not reflective of the actual colors. 

Day 9: Continued refining the Grouper and various parts of the mural. 

Day 10 - 11 

Day 12 - 14: The Dolphin Wall 

 Day 15: Adjusting the position of the Dolphin's and finishing the wall.

Day 16: Once the Dolphin wall was complete, I was able to finish the corner section by Tom's visiting "Maine" Lobster and Larry's Grouper. 

Day 17, The last day: I spent this day moving up and down the wall, adding stronger color and enhancing different sections of the painting.   I also discovered that by using the "Auto" adjustment on my camera that I was able to capture close to the actual color in the painting.  

Last 58' wall...Marina End Of Pool  (I will be returning on 1/5/03 to finish this wall and also paint a tropical landscape mural on the wall below the pool that faces the Harbor.) 

Front Entry KOA Sign:  What a challenging fun job this turned out to be!  

Painting the entryway KOA sign proved to be a great project that required skills far beyond being able to create murals.  For instance, I discovered that hanging out of a Cherry Picker cage nearly 30’ in the air as I stretched to reach areas that the cage did not reach, all the while smacking “No-See-Ums” off my skin, was a delightful challenge.  One that only 6 figures could get me to ever repeat again despite the fact that I “walked” away very pleased with the end results.

January 7-11: I have finished the interior swimming pool walls and can now go on to the next projects. 

January 12th:  Though I vowed to never paint another sign, I ended up painting one anyway. I guess it just goes to show, "Never say Never."  This sign will go over the KOA "Beach House Grill and Pub."  Once it is finished, the image will be placed on T-Shirts and sold to KOA guests.  From what I understand, if you wear the shirt to the Grill & Pub, you will be able to enjoy Happy Hour prices on your drinks all night long.  And by the way... If you haven't been to the Beach House Grill & Pub, take it from me, you are missing out on a fantastic time!  They have live entertainment that plays a variety of great dance music Wednesday thru Sunday.  You can either sit and listen, or get out on the floor and dance like no body is watching. I hope that you let the tropical island sounds lead you to where perfect synchronization is abundant and happiness is laced with infinity... Today, tomorrow and always.

Meet Mssssss. Sydney Snake: This adorable creature is a collaboration of Dianne, Sheila & I.  Dianne came up with this great idea to turn a boring PVC pipe into a snake.  From there, she and her husband Denny made the head out of a plastic milk bottle, then Dianne painted the base color green while I was back in Tampa during the holiday.  When I returned, both Sheila and Dianne talked me into helping out.  Now in case none of you know Sheila and Dianne, they are the kind of women that makes it difficult to say no to.  I think it was something in the "Please help" that softened my heart. Or perhaps it had to do with how much effort she had already put into the snake that made me want to help.  Nevertheless, I dove in head first just as I always do and managed to create a fun piece of art for others to enjoy.  However, this could not have been accomplished without Sheila or Dianne.  Sheila made sure that we brought Sydney to perfection, all the while mumbling something about "I want a Gecko like that on my fence..."  Dianne painted the bow and yellow stripes, while insisting that she couldn't paint.  And I simply had fun doing what I love to do... paint and laugh!  Thanks ladies, I had a great time working with you! As we all agreed, together we created the sexiest snake on this side of the border!  I can still hear Dianne singing, "I'm too sexy for my skin..."