I was recently asked to create a mural inside The Crossing church in downtown Paragould. The concept came as an AI-generated mockup: a black sheep with the phrase “Black Sheep Welcome” painted across a large interior wall near the back entrance. It was a unique starting point—usually I wouldn’t want to replicate a design exactly, but with AI, it felt less like copying someone’s personal vision and more like a challenge to translate and elevate it by hand. There was something oddly fitting about a human artist bringing a machine’s sketch to life.

The wall itself was huge, and making the grunge feel both raw and intentional took a lot of work.

Still, realism is my strength, and getting to scale that up into something public felt rewarding. It was a different kind of challenge, and one I’m proud to have tackled right here in town.

After getting the lettering and part of the sheep painted, I realized it needed a rear end. The original AI mockup had the sheep fading off into the wall, but in reality the wall is much wider than expected, and the fade didn’t land the same way. So I went ahead and gave it a proper backside—it just felt more complete that way.

From there, it all fell into place. The grunge took me back to my early days of design, and realism has always been my strong suit. After that, it was just a matter of following the plan.

While I was in the process of creating the mural, I was contacted by Premiere Magazine and asked to do a feature on me as a local artist. They interviewed me about the work I’ve done to help promote and beautify the city through art. A photographer even came out to the mural to take my picture for the article.

I am excited to read the article next month; the photos turned out incredible. Thanks Karoline!