Ria’s Barn Mural

When Ria and I bought our property it just contained a barn with the end facing the road. As Ria was an artist she conceived the idea of making a barn mural. Although we had a lot of other things to deal with building a house, as an artist how many times do have a chance like this?

The first problem was making a scaffolding. We couldn’t afford to buy or rent scaffolding so I bought some used utility poles for 10 bucks a piece and built a 4 story scaffolding with the help of my neighbor Jim Dietel.

Over the next couple of years Ria made an amazing surreal nature scene. Our road doesnt get much traffic so she did it purely for the love of art. I can tell you it is much harder painting on rough barn wood as compared to the billboard type murals you normally see.

For over 20 years we had farmers, bikers, hikers, etc. come to admire the wild vision Ria had created. Finally the paint started to peel badly and the roof needed painting too, so we painted it over.

If Ria had lived, she would have made a new mural.