Interactive Mixed Media Art Worship Mural For An Uncommon Marriage Conference

For the past few weeks I've been hinting that I've been working on a HUGE mixed media art worship project for my church. The days of really sore leg muscles and missing a few days of blogging were totally worth all the fun and heart put into the project.

I'm so very thankful for those long afternoons and evenings being alone with God in the church's studio and watching what he had my hands (and quads) do! I totally made a huge mess of the studio, but goodness, it was amazing having uninterrupted time with God and paint and doing something for my church.




This was the most amazing and meaningful project I've ever worked on. I was so incredibly moved by the interaction with the piece. I literally went from giddy excitement seeing the lines forming during the breaks and drawn to tears reading the notes and seeing them fill up the board.


My family and I attended a marriage conference at my church. The 4ft x 8ft mixed media project was framed and standing in the lobby ready for interaction from those attending the conference. The decorated theme was diamonds and the color scheme was a lot of neutrals with a pop of red and aqua.


The mural was muslin wrapped foam board. I quickly did a thinned out layer of gesso... That was a HUGE workout! I then used a huge car wash sponge to add Titanium Buff paint around it. Next I used my foam texture mats to add some gray markings around. 

I used my 3"x5" gelli plate and aqua paint to add blocks of color. While it was still wet I used a hard bristle brush to spread it out and blend it in more. Lastly, I took a large palette knife and Titanium White paint to blend it all in.


The next week, I had created scriptures in a diamond shape in Photoshop and had it printed on white tissue paper. The white tissue paper melts into the surface and turns completely clear. I added them onto the top and then tore muslin strips to make the diagonal lines across the board and frame the diamonds.


After all of that dried, I took my warm grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to add some more texture and a glaze over the verses. Lastly, I took some white paint with the palette knife to finish up blending them all in.


I love how it turned out! We arrived a little early hoping to take photos of it framed before people participated and when we got there it already had lots of interaction. It brought me so much joy knowing that people knew what to do and there was so much participation. I was so moved reading some of the words and notes, and so giddy to see it so full by the end of the conference.