Trending / Passion For Art: New mural rises in St. Helens | News

Reineking said the two are using funds from a grant from the Columbia County Cultural Coalition to pay for the supplies needed to paint the mural.

“Murals beautify,” she said. “And we thought a mural was a great way to give back to the community and a great contribution to the new food bank location.”

“The mural depicts both the act of contributing to the food back and also the act of the community helping to sustain the rest of the communities,” Patton said.

Patton said the timing to complete the food bank mural depends on the weather and the surface of the wall where the mural is placed.

“When the sun hits it, you can’t see anything,” Patton said. “The other challenges are the size of the wall and the texture. It is difficult to get a sharp line while painting because of the texture of the wall. But we will get there eventually.”

Patton and Reineking have a history and deep art education and most recently painted a mural, with the help of local teenagers, at the Scappoose Public Library.

Patton admits that being an artist can be challenging.

“When you decide you want to be a professional artist, it’s all about loving what you do,” Patton said. “You sacrifice a lot. You are struggling. You work a bunch of different jobs that you don’t want to work, so you can start doing more and more of the kind of work that you do like. So, it really is what it is.”

Both Patton and Reineking said their struggles to be professional artists were worth it.

“When you’re able to communicate with people through art, that’s always been a big drive for me as an illustrator, so communicating through artwork, I love doing that,” he said. “I’ve always been inspired by it and it’s great to do it for a living.”