Dempsey Construction Mural
Client: Dempsey Construction
Location: Carlsbad Office, North county, San Diego
November 2024
This mural for @dempseyconstruction was a first for me. With nine years of painting walls under my belt, this project’s canvas was a @skyfoldwalls - a metal room divider that folds up into the ceiling (!?!). While every wall that I paint is different, this one definitely kept me on my toes!
In the early stages of discussing design elements and initial concepts for their mural, Dempsey Construction knew they wanted something bright, colorful, and that incorporated elements of their brand values. Among those brand values? The owner’s two German Shepherds! Coming up with a design that played on all of these things (and also had some Carlsbad icons and nods to surfing thrown in there) was a lot of fun. The end result is perfectly “Dempsey”.
As this was my first time painting on a surface like this, and knowing my timeframe was just three days start to finish, I knew I needed to do some prep work and come into this project prepared. Dempsey reached out to Skyfold to confirm that we could, in fact, paint on the wall, while I tested different primers on a sample piece months prior.
When the day of install came, and with the help of two assistants (shout out to Allison and Melissa!), we set up shop and primed the entire wall with metal primer to ensure that the paint adhered properly and wouldn’t chip off. Once the primer dried, we used the panel dividers on the Skyfold as a built-in grid for laying out the design. We applied the paint carefully and slowly - keeping it thin to avoid the panels sticking when they accordion together back into the ceiling. This was a test in patience, but after letting the final product cure for 48 hours and seeing those fun colors fold down from the ceiling to break a conference room in half, it was so worth it!
This was such a fun and unique way to display art. It’s a reminder that even after nearly a decade in this field, I’m always learning something new. 💃✨