HOBBITON SHED MURAL

Skagit Valley, WA

Shortly after the pandemic hit in 2020, I became the caretaker of a magical place called Hobbiton. It’s a really amazing and whimsical property located in the forest bordering the North Cascades mountains in northern Washington. When you pull up to the property, the first thing you see is this shed at the end of the driveway. When I arrived in 2020, it looked like it needed some TLC, which I was happy to provide.

  • Front – Before
  • Side – Before
  • After primer
  • Side after sketch

Being comprised of pieces of plywood in various states of wear, I decided to apply a layer of primer to the surface before painting, even though I was going to use spray. This gave me a clearer visual of what I was working with and also made the sketch more visible.

  • In progress
  • Adding linework

The project was completed in two weeks. I used Montana Gold spray paint for the color and then I outlined everything with a brush and a mixture of black acrylic paint and Golden High Flow acrylic. The acrylic mixture helps the paint seep into the more porous areas of the plywood and creates clean lines and a bit more of a sheen than if I had used only latex or acrylic paint.

Completed side

My inspiration for this mural was to portray local flora and fauna that are prominent in this area. A whole flock of hummingbirds flits around the garden in the spring and summer, fox gloves bloom all over the property, ferns are ever present and I see heart leaf arnica on my hikes from time to time.

Completed front
Time lapse of part of the process
Snowy day in February 2021

The final result is the perfect pop of color on those dreary PNW days, of which we have many!