Painting a Mural on the Appalachian Trail!!

I started my art career after completing my thru hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2018. It started with small commissions here and there, and has slowly grown to a full time job. When I started this, if you had told me I would be painting a mural right on the Appalachian Trail, commissioned by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy themselves, I never would have believed you! This was an incredible experience and I am very proud of the work I made.

How I Got the Commission

In 2022 I got invited to attend a small vendor fair called Shop Til You Drop in Damascus, Virginia. The person coordinating it thought my work would be well suited for the town known as Trail Town USA, which I agreed. However, the event was in December, which is well past hiking season, and I knew the town would be void of the streams of trail enthusiasts that usually visit in the warmer months. I decided to give it a go anyways, knowing I could use the visit to sniff out other trail-related art opportunities. While in town, I was able to visit the new Trail Center that the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) had just opened, and had the pleasure of meeting their director. I shared my artwork with her and we had a pleasant conversation.

As winter started to come to a close in 2023, I started making plans to attend the Trail Days festival the town hosts every May. With almost 20,000 visitor in Damascus for the festival, I knew I had to find a way to make sure my art was on display. I reached out to the ATC inquiring about any opportunities to hang art in their facilities. The director responded that she didn’t have a space to hang art, but they were looking for a mural artist and asked if I would be interested. I immediately responded YES! They were excited to have an AT thru hiker on board for this opportunity. The wall was on the side of a garage building in the front yard of the Trail Center. Parallel with Laurel Ave (the main street in Damascus, and also the official route of the Appalachian Trail), and surrounded by the beautiful gardens of native flowers they were planting, the plain gray wall could really use some color to better suit the space.

Planning the Details

I had never painted a mural before, and while the size didn’t intimidate me, the process behind how much to charge, materials to buy, and how much time to set aside was daunting. Luckily I have several artist friends who have mural experience, and they were able to give advice. I provided my quote based on square footage, and incorporated a travel fee. I also quoted an accommodations fee, but gave them the option to waive the fee if they could provide me a safe place to legally park my camper van for the duration of the mural. They agreed to the van camping, and the rest of the requirments of the quote.

I researched paint options and ordered small samples to test at home. I scrutinized reviews to make sure the brands I found seemed to be long lasting, and then spent time researching overcoats to seal the mural with. Thankful the person at my local Benjamin Moore store was incredibly helpful in this process. I ordered excessive amounts of paint, having no idea how much I might go through. I figured it would be better to have extra on hand for any future mural opportunities, then to not have enough.

Next I set aside a week to work on the mural. One of my artist friends told me to give myself more time than I thought I needed. I thought it might take three days, so I gave myself 5. Turns out I needed ten days, but more on that later. The ATC asked if I could work on it during the Trail Days festival itself, but I had the opportunity to set up my vending booth during the festival that I didn’t want to give up. So instead we decided that I would work on it in the week leading up to the festival, which also saved me making two trips to Damascus that spring.

Once prices were settled on and deposits were paid, I started working on a mock up on my iPad, drawing in Procreate directly over a photo of the wall I would be working on. The wall had a window that had to be painted around, a door to be painted on, and two white pipes that they wanted to be creatively incorporated into the mural. I provided them with a sketch for their approval on the composition then moved on to coloring it in, both to give them a better visual and to give myself a map to work with once I got to start on the wall. The scene I was to paint was of Grayson Highlands State Park, which lies adjacent to the town, also along the AT, and is famous for its wild ponies and sweeping views.

A mock up drawing I created on my iPad for the ATC- the two white pipes on the tree I decided to turn into trekking poles.

Getting to Work!

I arrived in Damascus in the late morning on the day I was to start the mural, eager to get going. I spent about an hour cleaning the wall, which was already freshly primed, and clearing the space around it. By noon, everything was ready to go, but I had one problem. My next step was to use a projector to project my sketch on the wall, which I would then trace with chalk. However, it was midday and outdoors, so nothing the projector showed could be seen! I killed some time waiting for it to get dark, organizing my paints and other supplies. However, I started to get impatient. The scene I was to draw was a simple landscape, all the complicated stuff would be in the details but the sketch itself wasn’t too complicated. So I decided to pickup some chalk and try free-handing it. I expected drawing at such a large scale to be complicated, but by using the window, wall, and pipes as reference points I was able to get the drawing down no problem! Then I was able to go ahead and start applying paint, starting with some basic color blocking for the large shapes. I was glad I did this rather than starting on small details early on- the next day after the morning dew accumulated, the moisture had caused the chalk outline to disappear, erasing my initial drawing.

Color blocking the mural before adding details

Help Wanted

After two days of painting I was starting to realize just how time consuming the process would really be, and I was nervous about getting it finished before the festival. As rain started to come in on the third day, the delay had me incredibly anxious. I was taking shelter from the rain in a local coffee shop, watching as thru hikers streamed in and out, ordering copious amounts of food. One hiker came in and sat by themselves. I immediately recognized them from a few weeks prior, when I had been in Hot Springs, NC (another trail town farther south) to guide a backpacking trip. I don’t know what inspired me to start a conversation with them, because it was an incredibly awkward foot that I started on: “Hey,” I said, “I think I saw you in Hot Springs a few weeks ago. I was sitting alone at the diner and you sat next to me. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with your friend that you had about tattoos”. They looked uncomfortable, as you might imagine one would when told they had been eavesdropped on, but were polite and we started chatting. Their trail name was Hello, and as it turns out they had gone to art school, and had a significant art background. They were in town a few days before the festival, looking for an opportunity to rest due to a minor injury. They mentioned an art job that their shuttle driver had given them to pass the time, and then said they were hoping to find some more odd jobs to compensate for the expense of taking so many zero days. The wheels in my brain were turning. I ask them about their painting experience, and did they have a sketchbook they were drawing in on trail, and would they mind showing me. Once I had an idea of their skill level (which was impressive) I made my offer. I was willing to share some of my profit for some help on this mural that was taking way too long! They eagerly agree, and just like that the trail provided the help I needed, just when I needed it.

I expected to only need Hello’s help for a single day, but ended up hiring them for 3. The cut in my expected profit stung, but their company, conversation, contribution, and feedback was worth far more than I paid them, and I couldn’t have been more happy with how things turned out.

Hello and myself, becoming best friends!

Working with an Audience

One of my favorite parts of working on the mural was how the public got to see it come to life, and how many cool and amazing people I met during the time that I worked on it. Earlier in the week, the town was quiet and I would only have a few people come up to chat with me while I worked. But as folks started trickling in for the festival, it felt like a live painting event with an audience. As an extrovert, I loved the energy it provided and was appreciative of all the compliments we received as we worked.

By Thursday, we had the mural mostly finished, but there were still some small details that were needed. My commitments as a vendor started each day at noon on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So I would show up at my wall as early as 7am, paint through the morning, then run over to my booth by noon, with wet paint still covering my hands. It made for some long days, but I was able to complete the mural on Sunday, and it was even more fun to get to work on it during the actual festival when the town was packed.

On Monday morning, as the last of the hikers trickled out of town, I gave the mural two layers of an overcoat and took some pictures. At long last, the largest art project to date of my art career was complete! And what was even more exciting, the Town of Damscus (who co-commissioned this mural along with the ATC) was already asking me about another two-part mural in town for later that year! I hadn’t put much thought trying to be a mural artist before this, but after this opportunity I was incredibly excited to paint more walls.

The final product!

Learn more about Hello’s art and see their portfolio at HellLoMakes.com

Email me at sketchingsummits@gmail.com if you would like a quote for a mural project at your home, business, or town.