Mural Write-Up

About our mural:

"Our group’s concept was inspired by Turkish Iznik ware tile designs. Original Iznik ware was painted with stylized and symmetrical designs of flowers, leaves, and fruits, along with abstract linear motifs based on these natural forms. By the mid-16th century the range of colors used in the decoration had expanded from blue and white to include turquoise, several shades of green, and purple and black. Red had become a frequently used color by the late 16th century. Our design was created to reward repeated viewing, which is a theme that is frequently present in many forms of Islamic Art. We aspired to combine the aspects of traditional vegetal imagery and design with icons that represent modern environmental issues. The inclusion of modern environmental subjects plays off of the Islamic use of vegetal imagery which alludes to 'paradise' and how the modern state of our natural environment is anything but ideal. "


Inspired by the arts of the Islamic world, created a mural that showcases this culture's mosque mosaics (specifically Turkey's Iznik tiles). We also connected Islam's idea of heaven being a "garden of paradise" by including traditional vegetal motifs and flowers. Furthering this theme of the ideal paradise within nature, we incorporated current global/environmental concerns to highlight our world’s contemporary crisis with nature.
Our mural is composed of traditional fine art- blue and red watercolor- that was scanned into the computer then fused with computer graphic elements (such as the borders and top corners). Teri McCans and I rendered the flower blooms by hand and imported them into the computer. We then worked with Kerrin Paul to assort and “cut” them from their background in Photoshop. I also pieced together the mural as well as grommet it.