Picket Fence Mural

I love a good challenge almost as much as I love painting…so when I was asked to paint a more than 30-foot long Picket Fence Mural for an eatery called “Burrito Barn,” I jumped at the opportunity.  Little did I know HOW challenging it would be!  It wasn’t just the sheer size that proved difficult…it was painting on a coarse wood surface…trying to maintain a cohesive look when there were breaks in the fence every few inches…and, did I mention, the wind was blowing the fence the entire time!?!  Now that it’s done, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief, take in the scenery, and enjoy a good burrito.

As you can probably tell from the “Before” photo, the Burrito Barn is a permanently parked food truck. The owner not only caters to all the farm workers in the area, but to hundreds of employees in neighboring industrial buildings.  So, he wanted a cartoon-style picket fence mural to give them something fun to look at while they grab a bite to eat and take a break from work.

It was a brand new picket fence so I didn’t need to worry about power washing it first.  Instead, I started with primer.  I used a Killz latex primer and my new paint sprayer, being careful to protect the ground and, of course, the food truck from any over-spray.

Next, I started painting.  With so much space to fill, I painted barn animals, hay bales, and sunflowers…anything that would add to the country scenery but still fit the scale.  I used bright paint colors to tie in with the paint job on the food truck.

Once I was done, I finished it off with a protective, clear top coat by Minwax called “spar urethane.”  It provides more protection from the sun, rain, and temperature changes than regular poly urethane, but it’s also a bit pricey.

This Picket Fence Mural wound up taking four days to complete.  I was trying to be mindful of when customers would be there, and again, I was dealing with a considerable amount of wind.  But overall, I was happy with the results because the owner loved it.  He’s now bringing in live music on Friday nights to complete the “Burrito Barn” atmosphere.