A mural begins: Will Chestnut Hill ever be the same?

Chestnut Hill residents joined members of the Mural Arts Program at Bredenbeck’s Bakery on Saturday (6/30/12) to celebrate a mural that will be painted on one side of the three story building.

Community members helped artist Ann Northrup to pencil in the lower section of the mural that was started in early June. “They’re hoping I’m done by October,” said Northrup.

To commemorate the occasion, Bredenbeck’s had cookies for neighbors to decorate, along with refreshments.

According to Northrup, Bredenbeck’s has wanted a mural for sometime, and a forest scene was the theme they had in mind.”They wanted a Wissahickon landscape,” she said.

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Northrup has already painted eight murals in Philadelphia, and she had just the thing for the project. An avid watercolor landscape painter, she used a painting illustrating an area near Devil’s Pool in Wissahickon Creek, close to where Cresheim Creek comes into the Wissahickon, as a basis for the mural.

Northrup is using acrylic paint to create a watercolor-like look for the mural. Paint of this type should also keep the mural from becoming weathered. For Northrup, the only difference from her other works is the scale. “I do it in layers like I would do regular paintings,” she said.

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