Finally. Tim Hon’s fantastic mural gets the attention it deserves with a wonderful article in the Gazette. I’m not sure how I missed this, it’s dated last month. My favorite part? The part where it makes it very, very clear I’m not to blame in any way.
Artist’s beaver mural attracts attention
MARTINEZ, Calif. – When artist Tim Hon made his first stroll of Martinez’s downtown area a few years ago, he was impressed. Little did he know the walk would lead to his creating a popular mural on the side of one of its businesses.
And the owner of the business that bears the mural hopes it will help extend the downtown Martinez “renaissance” well past Main Street.
“I was really impressed with how quaint it was, and had so much character compared to surrounding areas,” Hon said about his exploration of his new home town.
Hon is familiar with a place with character. He moved to Martinez from Berkeley, which has a strong vibe of its own.
But Hon’s first trip to Martinez’s downtown took an unexpected turn. “I randomly stumbled upon the beavers in the creek!” he said.
“It was such an amazing experience. I just stood there on the bridge watching them work for a few hours. It was just incredible how they could be here amidst this ‘urban’ area,” he said.
If there’s another city where a graffiti artist randomly happens upon a family of beavers and is inspired to create art, I surely don’t know where it is. And honestly, you don’t either. I’m so glad that this engaging mural is getting the attention it deserves.
The mural is not a commissioned piece, Hon said. “It was done out of my own accord,” he said. Bernard helped out by purchasing the needed materials.
Because the building’s surface of metal and glass wasn’t ideal for a painting, Bernard put up plywood paneling on which Hon could paint.
Those panels serve a dual purpose, he added. “We weren’t sure if the city would accept it or try to remove it,” Hon said. “So we put it on panels in case we needed to move it.”
“I didn’t want to gamble with the painting,” Bernard said.
As Hon was doing preparatory plans for the mural, he learned about the Martinez Beaver Festival June 28 in Susana Park, which highlighted the work of Napa street painter Amy G. Hall, who made a sidewalk mural of a beaver pond in the center of the park.
Hon met with Heidi Perryman, whose Worth a Dam organization started the festival to let residents express their support for the aquatic dam builders that originally were controversial but have become unofficial mascots of the city.
The more Hon learned about the beavers and their festival, the more he wanted to coincide the timing of his mural with the celebration. “So I actually started that mural the day before the Beaver Festival,” he said.
And it wasn’t Heid’s fault. So there. Plus this mural is getting the positive reception it so rightly deserves.
“It turns out it’s unanimously beloved by everybody,” Bernard said. He said Martinez Police’s answer to the lip-synch video challenge may incorporate the mural. He’s heard the painting praised by members of the Martinez Council, and said Mayor Rob Schroder notices it on his daily walks past the building.
And for the artist?
“It was a fun experience, interacting with the public and watching people’s reactions,” Hon said. “And that is really why I do it. Kids especially were so amazed and got so happy.”
Nice! Here’s a little fun fact because we know each other so well. A supporter of Worth A Dam’s child was once a waitress at the breakfast restaurant right across from the mural. Guess who she noticed coming for breakfast every friday morning? That would be the fine mayor of our city and the wealthy property owner who originally threatened to sue the city over the beavers prompting the city to respond by trapping. Such a coincidence! Now their little breakfast cabal can be held in the shadow of a giant beaver mural.
Ahh small towns.
