Creation ofThe Mural
Science, Nature and Technology
I met Diane Brandes at a private showing of a friend's Film. As we chatted I learned she was the
marketing director for the Oak Shopping Center in Thousand Oaks. I shared with her my experi-
ences of painting "Fruit of the Spirit" at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu and what a positive success
that had been. Ms. Brandes had once employed an artist to build a 20 foot high sand sculpture in the
main court of the mall which the Thousand Oaks community had really responded to, so she was
open to discussing another art project
I visited the Oaks and pitched Ms. Brandes a public mural demonstration. It was one of those
situations in which I felt she really understood what I wanted to do and was receptive to it. It is so
rare to feel one has been heard. Over the next two years we'd talk every two or three months, she
always assuring me the day would come.
When the right set of circumstances converged, she called and we moved quickly. All the ideas I
had pitched her such as my "Giant Art Babies" which I knew would connect as good theater as well
as good art in a public situation like this, were of no interest to her. Diane needed an image that
would bring attention to a community pet project of hers. Thousand Oaks is a community that is the
home of many science industries and building a science museum is a passion of many people.
The research phase of designing the mural started and I immersed myself in science images,
museums, libraries, and interviews. Photo, photo, photo everywhere. My daughter suggested
Einstein which was an easy sell to me.
A mural proposal I had just designed for the Children's Dental Center was not going to be used. It
included images of people juggling abstract forms and this discarded visual gave me the idea to
paint Einstein juggling the planets. Rather audacious of myself, I thought, to turn Einstein into a
juggler, until I found as I researched his portrait for the mural a reproduction of his "Ex Libras" card
he used for his personal library books. The image was of a man juggling the stars. Now I felt small
indeed. I only had Einstein juggling planets and he has himself juggling stars.
The task for me in a situation like this is to design a mural that will be good art but which can be
completed within the eight week time frame we had agreed on. As I assembled the images, wanting
all the science disciplines to be included, I made a small oil sketch, it is this oil sketch that I showed
at a meeting with Diane, her team and board members of the Discovery Center. They loved what I
had but their own prodigious creative juices were awakened and they flowed with creative inclusions
of their own. Why show one baby when there could be babyies of all the different ethnic back-
grounds, and there should be older children and a family having fun with science and the tree could
have DNA imaged into it's branches, etc. All their ideas were excellent, the mural would be the
better for them. I knew of course that this much edition of detail would throw my time and budget
for a loop. I approached this reality with the Oaks and was given the answer that the budget was
fixed, and that unless the science center was given what they wanted the project would not go ahead.
I had to accept this reality or let the opportunity go. Hoping the publicity would create more job
opportunities in the future, I continued on. All during the painting of "Science, Nature and Technol-
ogy", new ideas were offered and often accepted.
A teenager asked "where is the apple?" With all the help from scientists how could we have
forgotten Newton's apple? NASA came in with photos of their space station, probably the only time
NASA will ever ask me a favor, space station included of course.
This project had to be a win win situation for three completely different parties.
1. For myself in that I could do good work, be compensated, get better known in this new market
and have a completed mural that I can use for display and eventually sell for my profit.
2. For the Oaks that they could fulfill a civic duty by using this opportunity to give publicity to the
Discovery Center and at the same time attract more people to the mall for more sales.
3. For the science center giving them a high profile in the community, a chance to raise member-
ship and money for their building fund and a chance to educate through weekend demonstration
science projects.
I transferred my science images to the squared off 7' X 15' canvas. My friend Ernie Lively helped
me deliver the stretched canvas to the Oaks. John Corkery the maintenance supervisor was ready for
us and we installed the mural surface onto a large cloth-covered specially constructed easel located
in the center court of this luxurious mall. The light in this large circular domed space was very
adequate, giving me a shadow free and sun beam free surface. That is sun beam free until the last
two weeks of my stay. The sun suddenly discovered the mural for about an hour every day in the
late morning. I took to getting a sandwich during that time and as I sat and ate I'd watch that sun
beam. As it got smaller and smaller it would form a "v" shape around Einstein. First his whole body
and then his shoulders and head and then a ray coming out the top of his head like a thought. This
"v" also imitated my original structural plan for the composition. Suddenly the first day's random
placement of the canvas took on new meaning for me. I love this kind of visual coincidence.
Thousands of people watch when I do a demonstration mural. As I was painting Robby the
Robot the lady that moved his arms in the film happened by. A lady I had taught as a child years
before in a fourth grade class came to say "hi", I remembered her and her childhood work. As other
mall events take place I get to meet such luminaries as Elmo the Muppet.
It is necessary to satisfy the balancing of two very different energies in a public situation like this.
The energy of concentrating to do good creative work and the necessity of graciously answering the
questions of people who usually are talking to an artist for the first time. There is a temptation to put
up a board with answers to the most often asked questions. To do that would take away the chance
for most people to make contact which is really what they want to do. Many people come every day
to see what's new. One mother said "It's so good for my kids to see not every thing happens by
pushing a button." For 10 weeks I painted 8 to 10 hours a day - every day but four. (sick one day,
Easter another.) During the seventh week a man strolled up and asked if I had painted it all that
morning. As the mural progressed I let parents lift their babies up to touch the "bee". Children
would bring their art in to share with me which I very gladly hung for display. When I saw real
interest I would sometimes invite a child to paint a little patch, just as my father had done with me.
Teens are so feisty. One day an entourage of students came in and confronted me, "We've decided
you must not be a very good artist because your painting in a mall." I answered "You mean you
don't believe in art for the people?" They all looked at me with a quizzical look in their eyes and
walked away silently. One 13 year old was talking with me and I noticed a logo name on her shirt.
When I asked what it meant she didn't know. I asked, "what if it's advertising cat poison and as you walk
through the mall someone sees it and says to their wife,' Myrtle I suddenly remembered, we forgot
to get the cat poison.'" The images and words we wear are important.
Neil Maclis from my gym had lost his wife recently leaving him a widower and a single parent.
A lot to adjust to. Wanting to be a friend I offered the best I had, would his daughter enjoy having
her portrait in my mural. Some people are pleased with such an opportunity — others could care
less. Thankfully Neal seemed interested. As the mural progressed, I saved areas to include Neal's
daughter Carli, who I had yet to meet. I would call Neal or see him at the gym and he always
expressed an interest, but never found the time to come. In the last remaining weeks I carefully
saved a small triangular space for Carli's portrait behind my son Kipano's portrait and under the
giant butterfly. I concluded that Neal and Carli were not going to make it, so I painted the rattle
snake into the triangular space. It flowed out of my brush so natually that I was pleased I had
decided not to wait. The next morning I was awakened by a call from Neal, "Martin we're coming
today." It was Neal, excited that he was finally going to make it to the mural with his daughter. I
expressed how pleased I was while scrambling in my mind "where am I going to put her?" The day
before as I was painting the snake I could hear a lady behind me talking to her young son. "Johnny,
look at the heart." Little Johnny couldn' t find the anatomically correct heart floating in front of
Kipano, so his mother said "not a pretty heart but a real heart." The words "not a pretty heart" stuck
in my head -- so when Neal arrived with Carli I had her pose as though she was placing a
valentine's heart to be studied under the giant microscope that was already painted into the mural. I
said "We'll have you study love." Carli had the warmest most genuine smile, so much so that I
asked her when she came back to the Oaks to see her portrait finished, to pose for my next mural of
children flying. I placed Carli standing on the fossil I had behind Kipano. The size I painted her
was wrong for the perspective; it placed her too close to Kipano making her look like a little minia-
ture person. This was corrected by painting a puffer fish that hid the bottom of the fossil. I also
included the lightning and wreath of leaves (inspiration) reflected into the mirror of the
giant microscope as though "love was being studied through the light of inspiration." The left side
of "Science, Nature and Technology" now looks as though it was planned around Carli rather than
the last minute scramble that occurred.