Denver mural “Viva Colorado”
September-October 2016/ Denver, CO
This is my first mural created in the city of Denver! The location is perfect: it is beautifying the previously ugly wall on the very busy intersection of W Alameda and Santa Fe drive, on the corner of highway I-25 in Denver. Thousands of people drive by this wall every day and hopefully they’ll learn about the history and symbols of Colorado.
A covered wagon of first European settlers with a young couple, with what begins a modern history of Colorado. It also symbolizes the arriving of me and my family to Colorado.
Pencils and a notebook, the companions of an artist.
My pug Vasily
Colorado loves horses! Of course, I had to include one in this mural.
Plants, but especially trees, are always a symbol of life, growth and stability to me. Its deep roots go far into the earth, they know it’s history, the earth is holding the trees, giving them power.
The State Fish: Greenback Cutthroat Trout, that begins it’s life and always comes back to the clear streams of the Rockie Mountains.
A native American man in a traditional wooden boat.
Colorado has a rich native American history. It is a home to many Indian tribes: the Anasazi (the first humans of the area), Ute Indians (who were here 1500 years before the Spanish explorers first arrived in the territory that is now Colorado), the Navajo, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe of the Colorado plains.
The beautiful Rocky Mountain Columbine, Official State Flower of Colorado with the peaks of the Rocky Mountains in the background.
Another side theme of this Denver mural is the contrast between nature and human civilization. All elements of nature are full colored and “alive”, urban architecture and features of the modern society have only outlines and are empty inside.
Between all the state symbols I couldn’t miss my own: Ziggy and Pablo, my two black kittens.
The center of the mural is given to the magnificent Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, the state animal of Colorado. It’s deep blue eyes looking straight into the soul of the viewers and symbolizes the wisdom of nature.
Behind its horns a big, strong Colorado sun, another symbol of the state.
Colorful sun beams and architecture of the historic Baker neighborhood, that is one minute away.
A native American rug with the designs and colors of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes.
The state bird: Lark Bunting, a common sparrow of the Great Plains.
The Colorado blue spruce, the official state tree
The Colorado hairstreak butterfly, the official state insect of Colorado
The claret cup cactus, state cactus
Nick Angelo during the process of creation of the mural.
You can see more pictures of the mural process here>
The size of the wall is 270 feet long and 12 feet tall at the highest point.
The design of the mural. To see more details of the design read this blog post>
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September-October 2016/ Denver CO
Outdoor Wall Art
