Safe Food Alliance has been busy working with local California artists on a spectacular mural presentation in the new Kingsburg Center. The team is excited to invite the public and industry to see the highly anticipated one of a kind piece, inspired by California agriculture.
Safe Food Alliance welcomes you on Thursday, October 11th from 3-6 p.m. for the mural reveal, networking, and refreshments. The talented artists, Tamara Keiper and Rachel DeFrehn, will be there to show you their work and answer any questions about how this masterpiece came about.
Tamara Keiper came out of retirement of painting murals to create this custom designed mural especially for Safe Food Alliance’s reception area. While painting professionally in Southern California, Keiper specialized in custom trompe l’oeil murals, ones which give the appearance of three dimensional qualities on flat surfaces. During her career, she developed her own formulas and techniques for using the air brush and air gun to create 3-D illusions in homes and businesses. Unfortunately, due to a serious arm injury, she had to scale down to the smaller, frame-sized, fine art, which she continues to this day. Works by Keiper can be seen at the Natividad Hospital in Salinas, Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association and Central Coast Artists Association shows in Monterey and Pacific Grove, and currently at the Carolyn Huff Gallery in Modesto during a two man show from September 4 to November 15. Her website is www.keiperfineart.com.
Rachel DeFrehn, an experienced watercolor artist, made the perfect partner for Keiper. Because of a life-long interest in painting murals, DeFrehn studied faux surface effects in Louisville, Kentucky. After which, Keiper asked Rachel to apprentice for her in creating the Safe Food Alliance mural. She gladly agreed and worked adamantly three days a week, taking time off from her employment at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The newly built Safe Food Alliance Kingsburg Center was looking for something which would represent the company’s passion and dedication to food safety and California agriculture. After exploring all of the options the team decided on a custom wall mural depicting a serene agricultural scene. The seven-week project began with research and creation of two concept drawings, followed by development of the chosen mural to a scaled rendering, and finally the transfer and painting of the image. The curved surface proved to be challenging as the rules of perspective changed when transferring the image from a flat painting to a rounded surface. With the mural fully complete, the view constantly changes as you walk from one end of the curved wall to the other. This work of art cannot be seen or depicted in any one photo and must be seen in person to be fully appreciated.
Please join the Safe Food Alliance team and industry friends as we proudly reveal the completed installation. As you experience the new mural design look closely and you may even find a few creatures hidden within the painting from lady bugs to horses, dogs to cows, and people to rabbits. Don’t miss the opportunity to see this wonderful piece and meet the talented ladies who created it. We hope to see you there!
