In early 2024 the Tybee Island Mainstreet Association asked if could design a mural for a 165 foot wall on Tybrisa Street. I was so excited and honored. For me Tybrisa Street had always been what I considered Tybee’s “Main Street”, it was the street I always made home base whenever I visited the island so to be asked to put my mark on one of my favorite places was really special.
The Tybee Island Mainstreet Association was so great to work with. They had given me a list of items they felt represented Tybee and the lifestyle but otherwise gave me so much freedom to bring it all to life in my own way. By May the mural design had been approved and in July paint hit the wall.
With so many great ideas for this massive mural I decided to break up the design into nine 15-20 foot wide vignettes and then tied it all together with an overlapping supergraphic wave motif and striped background. Since the mural is broken up into smaller sections I believed it was important to keep the pallet consistent across the entire length of the mural.
The Tybrisa Street mural includes many local landmarks and references to life on Tybee island. Some of my favorite motifs of the mural are the Tybee post theater and cockspur lighthouse illustrated as sandcastles, the large pelican and egret with wings spread, and the sea turtle whose fin is drawn to resemble a map of Tybee island.
Painting this mural for the city of Tybee was a great experience. I loved getting to work outside in the sunshine in my favorite little beach town and meeting so many kind people. Because I designed the mural into smaller sections, passerby’s got to enjoy each vignette as I watched on and continued to work on other areas of the mural. It was a pleasure getting to see all their smiling faces and so nice to hear their compliments while I worked.
Shout out to Tyler Buckingham for the nice action shots and to Caitlin Webb for some cool drone footage.
