Town and Country Mural Details: Country

Little country church - central segment of the country side of the Town-and-Country mural

The Town-and-Country mural for Calvary Baptist Church's classroom was a two-month project, from October 2012 to January 2013. The country side of the room included two walls, one of which was fifty-one feet long, unbroken by any doors or windows. The other was about thirty feet, and had two closet doors and a stairwell in the space. Above is the central element of the country theme, a little white church. Interestingly, the road seems to follow the eye. No matter where a viewer stands in the room, the road seems to come toward him.

Middle portion of the country side of the Town-and-Country mural

Above is an extended view of the central segment of the mural, showing Grassy Mountain and a little country church. The church was inspired by the old Summerour Methodist Church, which no longer exists, though Amazing Grace Baptist Church ~ a very similar building ~ now stands where the old church stood. Calvary Baptist Church is a modern brick building, and didn't seem right for the mural. On the left side of the mountain is a pond, with a plane and banner.

Long view showing left side of the long "country" wall, continuing onto the shorter
country wall, which has a barn, a bulletin board, and a stairwell entrance 

Fawn under a tree beside a pond

Turtle in pond (detail)

In a corner of the room that divides the town side from the country side, is a tree. It stands to the right side of the "library" door. Under the tree is a fawn, and behind the fawn is a tiny corner of the left side of the pond. The tree and pond continue onto the long wall, where the pond has a bunch of cattails and a turtle.

On a whim, we decided to add a plane and banner above the pond. Brenda (my client and helper) mentioned the plane as a way to fill some of the empty space near the pond. At first, I wasn't keen on the idea. However, the children of the Sunday school are familiar with a local pilot who flies a small plane in the area. Also, one of the original requirements of the mural was to incorporate the motto of the Sunday-school class:"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). Originally, I had planned to put the motto on a sign, but decided that a plane and banner would be fun, would fill the space very well, and would be something the children would enjoy.

Red airplane - detail of mural, about a foot wide, pulling the curved banner,
which is about eight feet long

Plane and banner: Philippians 3:14 verse, as Sunday-school motto

Center-right portion of the long country wall, showing the church road
as it comes toward the right

In this long shot of the central-right portion of the mural, the road leading from the church seems to come sharply out toward the right. The pasture area has little detail, leaving room for tables and chairs to be placed in front of it. The fence corner with morning glories is the beginning point of an eight or ten-foot area on the right side, which as a calf. That segment leads into the corner. The next wall is the short wall with the red barn.

Long view from right-hand side of country wall

Right-hand corner of the "country" side of the Town-and-Country mural

Detail of the calf on the right-hand side of the country-themed long wall

The 51-foot wall of the country theme, pictured in the details above, has the pond with the plane, the church, the long, empty pasture, and the calf in a fenced area, leading into the 30-foot wall with the red barn. Opposite the long country wall is a town-themed wall, broken by the entrance to the room, a double door. Below is a link to photos of the town side of the mural.

Town side of Town-and-Country mural


Note: Made corrections on date: judging by previous posts, I did this from Oct. 2012 - Jan. 2013 (not 2014 as originally published).