How a Charlotte artist created a mural at home during COVID-19 to honor her family 

When most of America began sheltering in place, a rumor circulated that Shakespeare had written “King Lear” while quarantined during the bubonic plague. Soon after, most of America felt guilty about using our isolation to watch cat videos and load up on carbs.

But Charlotte artist Emily Andress — a gallery owner, ArtPop billboard artist in 2015 and 2020 and a 2015 Arts and Science Council CSA artist — actually has a masterpiece to show for her time in lockdown.

Painting a mural — an ornate work of art — in her dining room is something Andress had dreamed of since she was little. Her maternal grandmother, Katherine Williams, had a hunt scene in the dining room of her Buckhannon, West Virginia home that Andress recalled being obsessed with. Williams, who was then 60, painted it in 1948.

When Andress, 62, and her husband, Larry, built their Charlotte home almost 33 years ago, she vowed to paint a mural in their dining room. But, there was never enough time. That is, until there was nothing but time.

A permanent monument

“The minute I heard we were going to have to shelter in place,” Andress said, “I got to work on the walls.”

“It’s been so cathartic,” she said of the three-week project she started in late March. She began by measuring the wall space and then created sketchbooks with her designs. She chalked those designs on the four large and two small walls.

“This was exactly, as it turns out, how my grandmother did it,” Andress said. An older cousin, who still lives in Buckhannon, remembered when and how “Ma” — as the grandkids called Williams — painted the mural. That cousin was 5 then — the same age Andress’s granddaughter is now.

“I love that my cousin remembers (Ma) pulling a step ladder around and hope mine will remember the same about me,” Andress said.

Creating a permanent monument was much more than a way to pass the time while sheltering in place. It was a way for Andress to honor her grandmother — a woman who had incredible artistic talent and who, had she been born in a different time, may have made a career as an artist.

As it was, painting was a hobby for Williams. “She painted her whole life,” Andress said. “And she lived to be 109.”

‘Connected to my roots’

Artistic talent isn’t the only thing Andress inherited from Ma. Two years ago, she developed the same essential tremor, a neurological disorder that causes the voice to shake, that her grandmother had.

“It made my grandmother go quiet,” Andress said. “It stopped her in her tracks. When I developed it, I said: ‘I’m not going to let that happen to me.’”

Ma was on Andress’ mind every day as she painted. “I imagined how wonderful this must’ve been for her,” she said. Her grandmother couldn’t, or didn’t, often use her voice, but here was her statement. And it outlived her. The Queen Anne-style home, complete with turrets and wrap-around porches, is no longer in the family, but the mural is still in the home.

“I understand her so much better after going through this experience,” Andress said, speaking, really, of both the voice tremor and mural. “I feel so connected to my roots.”

Castles and parapets

Katherine Williams used acrylic paint for her mural, as did Andress – even though she hates acrylic paint. It dries fast. It can sometimes even dry on the palette before the artist can get it on the canvas. Or drywall.

Williams painted a traditional, bucolic hunt scene in a British style. Andress did, too, but hers is “more medieval,” she said. It’s in the style of the Italian Renaissance, a style that’s heavily influenced her own work.

There are castles with parapets, gold-adorned robes reminiscent of Gustav Klimt’s gilded paintings, horses and hunting dogs, a rabbit hiding behind a tree.

Unlike Michelangelo, another artist known for painting walls (or ceilings), Andress didn’t have an assistant. A level was the only tool, other than her paints and brushes, she used.

Even the intricate diamond background, which people have assumed was wallpaper, was painted. “Medieval paintings had lots of pattern and intricate backgrounds,” she said. Her mural is nothing if not authentic.

But like Michelangelo, Andress sustained injuries while painting. But she was enjoying it too much to stop. “I threw my back out,” she said. “I didn’t care.”

Painting a story

Like many murals, the Andress mural tells a story. “It’s a fool’s journey to enlightenment,” she said. “And there are symbols throughout that tell the story.” She felt the characters speaking to her as she brought them to life. They’re so animated, they practically leap off the wall.

On the first wall, an empress in a regal red gown with a subtle pomegranate-and-sunflower design offers knowledge to the fool — a character who grows as he makes his way. By the fourth panel, he’s older, wiser and ready to seek his purpose. By the sixth and last panel, which Andress painted first, he’s headed onward — sure of success — armed with wisdom and a sense of purpose.

You might presume the dining room was a one-and-done project, but Andress said it didn’t exhaust her. It motivated her: “I want to paint my whole house now.”

In fact, she wants us all to. “I think everyone should paint their walls,” she said. “Put your stamp on your environment.”

What she doesn’t want to do – ever – is sell the house. “We’ll have to pass it down to kids now,” she said. “If we ever move, I’ll take the walls with me.”

Get inspired

See Emily Andress’s work – including her dining room – on Instagram at @etandress. Visit her website at etandressfineart.com. Or, visit her gallery in downtown Mount Holly – virtually, for now – at awakengallery.com.

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