LAFAYAETTE, CALIFORNIA – The wall next to parking for Abe’s Cafe and Zahra Salon used to be blank and boring. Not anymore.
A brand new mural, completed earlier this month, now covers the wall (at 3578 Mt Diablo Blvd.) in an explosion of beautiful, floral color.
I originally saw the artist up on a lift painting it. So when it was done, I of course stopped by to check it out.
A wall of sky and flowers in the middle of downtown
The mural covers Zahra’s west-facing exterior wall, right along the Mount Diablo Boulevard retail strip between Lafayette Plaza and the cluster of restaurants and shops toward Happy Valley Road.
Up close, the flowers are almost as tall as a person. Papery white petals spill into each other, anchored by bright golden centers.
According to the city’s Public Art Committee, the design uses a loose, gestural style and layered texture to emphasize the wild, slightly unruly character of the flower. The idea was to create something that felt contemporary and bold, but still tied directly to Lafayette’s natural landscape.
The mural’s creator, Lafayette native Rachel Perls, is a color consultant and artist whose work focuses on how color and environment interact.
City documents note that the Public Art Committee specifically liked how her proposal balanced bold shapes with subtle, painterly texture — a good fit for a wall that is constantly seen at both close range and from passing cars.
So what are the flowers, exactly? Perls chose the Matilija poppy as the star of the composition. The Matilija is a California native wildflower often called the “fried egg flower.” You can see why!
It also has some of the largest petals of any California flower. Again, when you’re making the petals as big as a car, it helps to start with a flower whose real petals are also very large!
Lafayette’s mural project’s themes are landscape, abstract, botanical, and historical representation. For this first project, the city wanted something botanical that still felt distinctly local.
And the natural themes connect to Lafayette’s original public art project–beautiful concrete murals right down the block, created by another local artist in the 1970s. Check out my story about that.
Lafayette has lucked out with such a stunning, colorful mural downtown!
Make sure to join our free 925 News newsletter so we can keep you updated on everything happening in the city.
