Murals

Creating murals is a passion of mine because it allows me to create purposefully for others. The opportunities I’ve had to paint others’ visions into a reality continue to drive me to seek out ways to create other large-scale artwork for public spaces, healthcare centers, businesses, and private residences in order to bring more beauty and joy into people’s lives. I have been commissioned to paint children’s nurseries, bedrooms, bathrooms, classroom walls, health clinic waiting rooms, and hospital hallways. See examples of my work below. Interested in collaborating? Contact me at renaemcdesigns@gmail.com and describe your vision.

2025

September & October were busy months for me! 4 murals done.

Check out this blog post to learn more about the Cannery Row mural in Monterey:

Cannery Row Mural Project

2024

February – commissioned by the Valley Medical Foundation to do one more mural in the NICU at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose. The “Adventure Awaits” theme was decided by the nurses to provide a hopeful message to families who have babies in the NICU; I designed based on their inspiration image and attempted to try a watercolor style with the paint. This was painted on an 8′ x 11′ wall in the waiting room between Feb. 20-24th.

Timelapse video featuring music made by my husband, Christian

2023

July – Dolphin mural. 8′ x 9′ bedroom wall for my nephew in Rancho Cordova, CA.

April – 8′ x 20′ hallway wall leading to the NICU at O’Connor Hospital, San Jose, CA. Commissioned by the Valley Medical Center Foundation, inspired by the nurses’ visions. Painted over 5 days.

2022

December – Hallway wall painted in the NICU at O’Connor Hospital, San Jose, CA. Commissioned by the Valley Medical Center Foundation, inspired by the nurses’ visions. Painted over 3 days

November – Photo op mural in the NICU at O’Connor Hospital, San Jose, CA. Commissioned by the Valley Medical Center Foundation. Design envisioned by the hardworking nurses so that outgoing patients and their parents can take photos to show the growth of the babies from the first day they were admitted. Chalkboard paint was used to create a reusable writing surface.

October – Welcome tree mural painted on the adjacent lobby wall in O’Connor Hospital’s Birthing Center, San Jose, CA. Commissioned by the Valley Medical Center Foundation.

September – Welcome to the World lobby wall in O’Connor Hospital’s Birthing Center, San Jose, CA. Commissioned by the Valley Medical Center Foundation.

June – Blackbird music room mural for 2 music teachers in Petaluma, CA

Before, during, and after

Time-lapse video with Blackbird by the Beatles

2021

Oak Woodland Mural in Bascom Health Clinic, San Jose, CA (Summer 2021)

Selfie – work in progress on the Redwood Mural at VHMC Bascom

Oak Woodland Mural (Final without chairs)

This mural was too big to get one clear shot, so here’s a video showing all of it.

June-early August 2021: Two 2nd floor waiting rooms of the Pediatric unit at Valley Health Center Bascom in San José. I was commissioned to brighten up the two main waiting rooms with a focus on California’s natural environment. The first mural is centered on California’s oak woodlands and the second is on redwoods forests. See the gallery below for close-ups of both and the time-lapse videos that capture the entire process.

Both murals took around 40 (ish) hours in total, but the painting spanned over a few months in the summer. It was a great opportunity and I’m grateful to the staff at the clinic for their support and flexibility while I worked on these projects.

Timelapse Videos

Timelapse video of oak woodland mural

Timelapse video of the redwood mural

January 2021: Bathroom mural inspired by a New York Times Magazine cover. I’m grateful for my friends Danielle and Ryan who commissioned me for this dream of theirs and I’m glad I could help it fully come to fruition. Link to blog post with more progress shots and before/after videos.

2019

May-July 2019: I helped out a fellow art teacher friend, Jessica Gutierrez, who designed and coordinated a huge wall mural in east San Jose. I painted two giant flowers that were between 4′-6′ wide and 3′-4′ tall. Jessica and her high school students from James Lick H.S. did an incredible job on this project. Here are a few in-progress images:

Some of the students at work with Ms. G

Benjamin Moore’s wall in east SJ

Jessica at work

I painted the bundle of red-orange flowers. A guest artist helped out and created that beautiful hummingbird.

Me at work on that passion flower.

March 2019: Under the Sea Porthole Mural Project in the main waiting room of Valley Health Center Bascom (same clinic as the mural last month). I am grateful to have been commissioned by the Valley Medical Center Foundation in order to complete this short 2.5-day project.

~10′ x 4′ indoor mural time-lapse video:

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Jan. – Feb. 2019: Volunteer and mural artist at a low-income health clinic in San José. See blog post for more details/reflection: Valley Health Clinic Bascom Mural Project

10ft X 22ft indoor mural – 7 days of creating 🙂

Time-lapse Video

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Summer 2013 – Artistic Director, coordinator/co-designer, and main artist of 8ft X 12ft mural. Coordinated teen volunteers to paint this mural for Ceres Community Project.