A Couple of Builders
This is our submission for the Ramona Art and Wine festival that is happening on November 2nd at Begent Ranch. The barrel will get auctioned off to raise money for HEART, an organization that raises money for murals in Ramona! Cory and I hope to put one up one day (but later, when the town is ready for something other than cowboys and classic cars — No disrespect, it’s all great stuff!)
Here’s a little bit I wrote about about the process of making and coming up with the concept.
When deciding what I wanted to paint, I started to think about what the people of Ramona find important to them. I didn’t want to pander and paint something that wasn’t true to my kooky self. Then I realized it, the single most important thing to the folks around here… dogs! So I thought I’d make a little dog house, half inspired by my whimsical fairy tale nature, half inspired by the houses of Ramona and Julian. I chose the hex sign on the backside of the barrel because I find Pennsylvania German culture to be pretty interesting and at least a little farm inspired. I crawled into the house and painted things that would make me feel comfortable. A big ol’ chair, a fireplace, a turntable, a boombox, some plants, a doormat, some books, and of course a bunch of art on the walls! After painting the inside, I brought out my puppy-dog-eyes and asked my partner in crime, Cory Riedler, if he wanted to help me make it even cooler. We collaborated on the exterior, even giving the chimney a little solar panel to make the front porch light function without a battery pack. Then, with baby on hip, I asked my mom to collect some non-toxic-to-dog succulent trimmings from her garden. My brother and dad helped me too while I was juggling mom life, my design work, and personal projects. It is safe to say that this project has me grateful I live in Ramona with all my family here to support me. It takes a family to make a home, right? Even a dog-home!
