Brad Horn/Nevada Appeal Boys & Girls Club of Carson City members Melyssa Schachten, 12, left, Chainey Gonzales, 8, Sierra Whitton, 12, and Aaron Rumsey, 9, finish the mural at the Southgate Apartment Complex Recreation Center with fairies and other details Friday.
Young artists completing a mural at a senior living center on Friday diligently added the final touches.
Fairies.
Some on rocks, some on mushrooms and even one venturing toward the sky.
"I think it looks pretty good," said Seejay Whitcher, 10, of his fairy. "This is kinda cool. My mom wants to come down here and see it."
Seejay and eight other children from the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada worked in the lobby of the Southgate Apartment Complex Recreation Center.
Whitcher hummed as he worked, paintbrush in his steady hand, as he slowly filled in a fairy body, whose green color blended with the surrounding grasses of the mural.
"I've already practiced it two times (on paper)," he said. "I think it's going to be pretty easy for me."
Erin Dobyns, art and education director for the club, spent five days this summer painting the background. Apartment residents asked her to paint it.
"I love the concept of youth and seniors coming together to do something for each other, really," Dobyns said. "The more community outreach we can do with the Boys & Girls Club, the better."
At the right of the lobby entrance, the mural features a pasture with a enormous sheltering tree. At the left, a stream ventures from mountains to a grassy pasture with rocks.
Many places for fairies.
"I think this is wonderful, I think it's great," said resident Barbara Schilling. "It was just all white before and we had a black-and-white picture of this building hanging and a bulletin board, so this is neat."
Throughout the two hours, Dobyns reminded the children of the painting fundamentals they reviewed throughout the week.
"When you're painting something, you choose a brush that is smaller than what you're painting," she said. "Remember to paint anything light first, like skin color. How do we make skin color? Off-white and a touch of red.
"Everyone needs to stay in their spots so they don't knock the water over."
Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at mo'neill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.
