Hand Painting a Flower Mural for Pasta Louise in Brooklyn, New York
Finding the Mural Painting Project
A few months ago, I reached out to illustrator Fiona Robinson. We first met during my previous Shed Mural project—she’s part of the team that helps care for my local community garden. I’d had my eye on another wall in that space, one that needs a bit of prep work before it’s ready to paint, and I wanted to check in on its progress.
Fiona let me know the wall still wasn’t ready—but she’d seen something on Instagram she thought I might like. Pasta Louise, a restaurant just up the road, was looking for a mural painter to create a floral mural celebrating their scholarship program. I reached out right away, offered my services, and was invited in to discuss the project.
A Community-Focused Brief
From the start, Allison and Dan—the owners of Pasta Louise—were warm and welcoming. They shared the story behind their scholarship program for Brooklyn students who have lost a parent to cancer, and I knew straight away that I wanted to be a part to the project.
The brief was to paint a floral mural that would bring attention to the program and feel like it had always been part of the restaurant. Since the space is busy and often filled with strollers which scrape past the wall (prams for my UK friends), the mural needed to cover only the upper half of the wall. It also had to be designed around framed photos of past scholarship winners.
Being a local mural artist really paid off here — Pasta Louise opens at 11 a.m., so I was able to pop over around 8 a.m. each morning to paint. Meaning we were able to finish fairly quickly and not disturb the food service.
Designing the mural
The design process for this mural didn’t go as smoothly as usual. By now, I’m fairly seasoned when it comes to mural design and can often hit the mark on the first try. My typical process starts with a moodboard—it’s a crucial step that helps me understand what the client connects with visually and what doesn’t resonate.
This time, though, I was feeling especially inspired and decided to skip the moodboard entirely, jumping straight into the design. I thought I had a solid vision: a mural featuring edible flowers that would tie in beautifully with the theme of a pasta restaurant. The concept felt playful, fitting, and full of colour—so I went for it.
Below is the design I created.
The initial edible flower mock up, which wasn’t the right fit!
While the client liked the design, she felt it wasn’t the correct fit. We jumped on a call and I sent over a moodboard to hear her feedback, and I went back to the drawing board and created a fresh design. She asked for peonies and roses and I created a new design which you can see below.
The final mock up before painting
Hand painting the floral mural
I then projected the design on the wall, this was particularly fast and easy as it was a relatively small space. One thing I would change if I was to do the project again is I would use a transfer for the text.
Me hand painting the floral mural
Quickly projecting the mural
I used BEHR sample pots of high quality emulsion paint, bought in tones similar to the flowers in the design. This made an efficient process which meant the whole design was able to be painted in around three days. I use a mixture of brushes and you can watch a video of how the piece was put together on my Instagram @marthamurals
A surprise glimpse of the mural in a nearby mirror
The design fitting into the existing space
Me with the final mural
The client was thrilled with the design and gave me a five star review.
If you’re looking for a local mural artist to paint a floral mural design, feel free to reach out for a no-pressure chat to see if we can bring your vision to life.
