Blog

 

The first step is complete, the power washing!

 

Little did we realize how many layers of paint there would be.  We thank Chihaus Washing for the excellent job. They spent well over 5 hours of power spraying and scraping.  Next time you see Chihaus (the red truck mobile wash), give them a thank you, they deserve a thumbs up.

 

With the layers removed it became apparent the square base is simply too rough for the final painting.  The beautiful, smooth lines of a flower would look like a hailstorm shredded it.  While this might be okay for most murals, which are seen from a distance, Big Boy is near the bike path, and we anticipate folks will stop for a closeup photo op.  A decision was made to obtain quotes for coating the square base with a masonry skim coat. Remember the old saying, “if we are going to do it, we need to do it right!

 

Our goal is to have the Big Boy prep done by the end of April.  The mural painting will begin in the Fall.  Don’t be surprised by the bright color of the base primer, it will be very bright!! We consider it the foundation color and it will disappear as the mural begins.

 

Speaking of painting!  Painting the mural requires many different sizes of brushes.  If you have contractor grade brushes, perhaps some old but useable artist brushes, think if us!  Each color will need a large and smaller size brushes. Your ‘spare and unused’ brushes will be treasured during the mural painting process. 

 

Big Boy is probably one of the larger irrigation pipes in the RGV, hence its nickname.  The square base is 5’ wide x 7’ high, the cylinder part is about 8’ high, together it’s about 14’ high!  Both the power washing and the skim coat were not part of our initial budget of $1000.  But taking the time on the preparation will enable us to create a new landmark for Retama Village.   We are anticipating an overall cost of about $2000, half of that is the preparation costs which we had not planned for initially.

 

Funding for the Big Boy project is through donations.  Bonnie Fogg is collecting cash, checks or even PayPal. Bonnie will be in Retama through the end of April.  3903 Pelican Way, cell 630-688-3594, email bfogg2105@gmail.com.  

 

We thank you for your kind support … this is going to be a fun adventure!!