Deep Dive: Five Years, Two Spaces, and a Whole Lot of Paint

Tom Gross, owner of Tommy G's Meat & Sausage, was a frequent customer of my husband's when he worked at a local car dealership. At the time, Tom owned a tree-clearing company, and over the years, the two became friends. Somewhere along the way, Tom learned that my husband's wife (👋🏻 me!) was an artist.

So when Tom was opening his lifelong dream of owning a butcher shop, he reached out to my husband for my contact information.

He was looking for a mural artist. Someone who could bring a little artistry into his new space, because this wasn't going to be just any butcher shop. Tom was creating an artisanal experience, offering high-quality meats and specialty products in an atmosphere unlike anything else in Fairbanks. He wanted his customers to have "the best meat experience" ever.

And he wanted the walls to help tell that story.

Bringing the Vision to Life

After our initial call, Tom and I met frequently to discuss ideas and explore the space as construction progressed. I presented several digital concepts, applying the artwork to mockups so we could visualize how each mural would look and feel within the shop.

Together, we narrowed down the ideas, considering everything from the placement of each mural to how the artwork would interact with the architecture and the overall customer experience.

Once the concepts were selected, I coordinated with the on-site contractors to work around construction schedules and get access to the lift. I projected the artwork onto the walls to maintain accurate scale, sketched the outlines, and hand-painted everything using interior paints, acrylics, and Posca paint markers for the finer details.

The first mural was the Tommy G's logo, prominently placed above the meat kitchen window. It was intentionally designed to be one of the first things customers would see when walking through the front doors.

Next came Primal, my take on the traditional butcher's meat chart, elevated quite literally by stacking the pig on top of the cow. The animals were painted in bold red silhouettes, with the cuts detailed in dashes and dots inspired by the Tommy G's logo. The throwback typography was carefully selected to complement the logo, with all that same swagger.

Then came Knives Out, a massive mural featuring the tools of the trade in bold, modern silhouettes. I used the projector again to sketch out the outlines, and then A LOT of painter's tape to block in the shapes. I incorporated Tommy G's brand colors into simple diagonal stripes across the knife handles, giving the artwork a completely custom look.

On the opposite side of the shop, I painted an organic sprig of Olives, wrapping the artwork around a corner. This one was particularly challenging because the illustration needed to flow seamlessly through the bend. I kept the colors minimal, painting only the olives and leaving the leaves black and white. The organic shapes brought a little softness to all the bold lines and solid silhouettes throughout the shop, creating some much-needed visual balance.

And then came an unexpected addition.

At one point, Tom asked if there was anything I could do with a structural beam that intersected the room and continued down one wall. It wasn't part of the original scope, but I tossed out the idea of transforming it into a Mediterranean trellis, overflowing with luscious grapes, bright lemons, and plump olives.

I drew the entire thing freehand with paint markers, adding color only to the fruits to complement the treatment of the Olives mural.

Little did I know, that spontaneous addition would eventually become the visual connection between the original shop and its future expansion, and things beyond.

Five Years Later...

In 2026, with business booming and a growing demand for imported specialty goods, Tom expanded the butcher shop to include a space dedicated to an Italian pantry and kitchen.

And once again, he trusted me to bring the space to life.

His only real requests were to incorporate the trellis artwork from the original shop to visually connect the two spaces, and to see if we could finally find a home for another mural concept I'd pitched back in 2021.

The new space was to feature a custom stained-glass window, which I surrounded with the same trellis artwork, continuing its minimal color treatment.

The trellis design continued onto the edge of a platform, and around the nook leading to the staff door, weaving the artwork throughout the new space.

Next came the massive Mediterranean Garland, a lineup of herbs stretching across the wall opposite the original Knives Out mural.

I loved the repetition of the lined-up knives mirrored by the row of herbs, even though you'd never actually see them together. The garland was also designed to complement the original Olives mural, which you can catch a glimpse of from the new space.

Even though the murals were created five years apart, I wanted them to feel like they had always belonged together.

Construction brought a few additional challenges, including modifying a doorway into a graceful arch, which meant returning to touch up the Knives Out mural on the other side.

But the biggest transformation was still to come.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

The new space included a public bathroom and a private back entrance, both set into a hallway. Rather than leave it as an ordinary passageway, I decided to turn the entire thing into an oversized Mediterranean-inspired mosaic, filled with bold, bright lemons.

Every inch of the walls was covered in organic shapes, designed to look like individual pieces of tile. I hand-painted intricate details to give the illusion that the pieces had been broken from decorative ceramic plates and carefully assembled into a mosaic.

It was an ambitious project, but the result was one of my favorite murals I've ever created.

And the greatest compliment came when Tom's wife walked into the finished hallway, having just returned from a trip to Italy. She placed her hand on her heart and said she felt like she was right back there.

I don't think I could have asked for a better reaction.

Looking Up

Tom still wanted to find a place for the Meat Mural, and I still really wanted to paint it. We hadn't found the right place for it.

Then he mentioned that a new entryway was being built onto the front of the shop, and wondered if I could paint it on the ceiling.

I was ALL IN.

I acquired my very own scaffolding and worked exclusively on Sundays and Mondays, when the shop was closed, so I wouldn't interfere with customers coming through the main entrance.

Painting a ceiling is NO JOKE. After a month of Mondays working overhead, my body was absolutely wrecked. But I love that the finished mural adds another unexpected element to the shop, a little surprise for anyone who takes a moment to look up.

Beyond the Walls

Over the years, my work with Tommy G's has extended beyond the murals.

Tom asked me to help design the vinyl wraps for the entry doors, working directly with local Auto Trim Design to select the patterns, colors, and layout. The result helps establish the experience before customers even step inside.

I also had the opportunity to design packaging labels for Tommy G's exclusive lineup of custom spices. Tom wanted something bold and elegant that would stand out on the shelf, so I created these with metallic elements and a slightly unorthodox layout to give the products a distinctive, elevated look.

From the walls to the windows to the products customers take home, every element helps tell the same story.

More Than Just Murals

Looking back, it's pretty incredible to think that this all started with a friendship formed at a car dealership. What began as a request for a few murals has turned into five years of creative collaboration, spanning two spaces and countless opportunities to explore new ideas, and a true friendship based on respect.

Tom is an avid supporter of the arts, and an opera singer himself. Throughout this project, he gave me an incredible amount of creative freedom to develop a space dripping with artistry, with the same attention to quality and craftsmanship that goes into the meats he sells.

Tom understood from the beginning that investing in thoughtful design was about more than making his shop look beautiful. It was about creating an experience that reflected the quality of his products, set his business apart, and gave customers something to remember. He trusted that good design could elevate his brand, and I'm so grateful he trusted me to help make that happen.