New mural brightens the side of beloved Lexington deli/bakery
A new mural has transformed the side of Rowdy Rooster.
Painted by mural artist Marisa Mustard, the mural features a colorful collage of hummingbirds, moon flowers and pies.
Kathleen deMarrais, who owns Rowdy Rooster along with Jamie Lewis, decided to have a mural painted to hopefully bring attention and signal those who come through or into Lexington.
“We thought the mural was one way to do that, because it is real visible as you're coming from Washington or Augusta,” deMarrais said.
Rowdy Rooster is a bakery and deli that offers Georgia made products and local art.
“It’s a place where people can come to talk to one another, to meet new people, to support local art,” deMarrais said.
When describing the mural on Rowdy Rooster, deMarrais has personal connections to what was painted.
Since deMarrais likes to bake pies and with the shop being a bakery/deli, she wanted to include pies within the design.
The moon flowers represent deMarrais’ favorite flowers, which only bloom at night. Moon flowers bloom in a round shape that can closely resemble a full moon.
“They’re the size of a small plate if you’re growing them in good soil, and they’re just beautiful,” deMarrais said.
The hummingbirds were added because the shop feeds the hummingbirds during their season.
One intricate detail is a small ladybug that sits on one of the leaves of the moon flowers that holds a deep meaning to deMarrais.
This ladybug represents her niece, Jennifer Walker Martin, who died last January at 46 years old after a fight with cholangiocarcinoma, a type of cancer.
DeMarrais worked with Mustard to design what she wanted the mural to look like. She described Mustard as having a vision for her work and was amazed by her ability to create a mural out of only ideas.
“It definitely attracted attention when she was doing it, and people have remarked about it already,” deMarrais said. “So I think it's going to be something that people will like, and it's a pleasant, positive image.”
She chose Mustard, who lives in Athens, to be their artist through hearing about her from friends who had used her for murals in their home. Being local, Mustard was an excellent choice because they wanted to use someone from the county or surrounding counties.
Mustard uses the software ProCreate to take her clients’ ideas and turn them into mock-ups where she can virtually put the design where the client wants it. Clients can then adjust the mural so it aligns with their ideas.
Mustard, who also has painted murals in Nashville, Tennessee, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina, enjoys the changing dynamics of being a mural artist.
“You just get to meet all these new people and it’s just always different every day,” Mustard said.
She said creating murals helps her to connect with communities.
“It ties everybody together,” Mustard said. “It’s just something that everybody can enjoy.”
DeMarrais said she hopes that the mural will encourage more of them to be painted in Lexington.
“That would be great if we could have a mural on the different ends of town and on some of the buildings,” she said. “I’d like to see that.”