EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the next installment in a continuing series of articles on new murals in the downtown area.
A long-delayed mural at 110 Central Ave. has drawn praise from the local art community, which recently held a reception in honor of the artist, Danaé Brissonnet.
"It's been a super special experience. I'm super, super happy. It's one of my most detailed wall on bricks. Like, such a rough texture, and I think I could get as much detail as I wanted, and I'm pretty satisfied and I actually almost love the texture. It just looks old and vintage," Brissonnet said after putting the final brush strokes on the artwork.
"It has been a roller-coaster, but it has been one of the most beautiful experiences that I ever did," she said. "Like, the two murals that I did here in Hot Springs have just been one of a climax in my career, in like, being well treated, having so much people loving around me -- it's been such a really beautiful experience and I wanted to give that back in the mural."
"I'm thrilled to death with this. I think it's beautiful and I hope that the people of Hot Springs enjoy it," Bob Graham, the building's owner, said. "Far and away exceeds my expectations. Words can't describe it."
Davis and Suellen Tillman held a reception for Brissonnet at their home a few doors down from the mural on May 20.
"Well, first of all, we're very excited to have an artist of her caliber here in Hot Springs, and second of all, it's, I think, an incredible addition to our block," Davis Tillman told The Sentinel-Record.
"It's a wonderful piece of art, but it's also just a fun beautiful entrance into our downtown area," he said.
"I am super excited to have met her, and I think it's wonderful that Dee (and) Bobby, they have sponsored this amazing artist and I think it's going to be so beautiful and such an improvement for our city," Suellen Tillman said.
The Tillmans said they also wanted to honor Brissonnet as a way to thank her for putting up with the intense heat while she was painting.
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"It is unbelievable what she has been through. I mean she took and made a paper tarp over her because of the sun. I mean here we are reaching, I think they were saying the highest record days in 50-60 years and she out there, and she's maybe all of 5-foot-2, and she's tiny and she's up on this giant machine in the hottest, hottest weather," Davis Tillman said.
"Incredible," Suellen Tillman said, "passion, dedication, love -- we are very grateful."
Prior to the start of the mural, Brissonnet had to make some alterations to the piece after objections were raised by the adjacent St. Mary of the Springs Catholic Church, but she said the final version is even better than her original concept.
"The way I work, I never really keep the design that I did. I always kind of tweak it a little bit depending on how I feel, what's happening in the moment, who I meet," she said.
"I like to put a lot of element, so there's space for change and there's space for molding the experience that I had, and creating a sketch will be like another process, but ... I kind of kept all the idea in the sketch and I just placed it differently," Brissonnet said.
"I'm improvising every day, like every day's changing," she said, noting Graham's dog found its way into the mural.
"I think it's one of the sweetest dogs I ever met and it's like their daughter, so I did. I was like 'Oh, how am I going to put the dog in there?' and I was looking at the space and I knew the part with the cardinal wasn't done yet and I knew that I wanted the house in the water, kind of like the flood -- there's been a lot of history of flood here -- so I was like the water and the houses, but I wanted to like also have a symbol of hope with the cardinals saving one of the houses, and I was like 'That's it; that's like Dixie's house,'" she said.
"I had the best time (in Hot Springs) and yeah, I really would love to come back. It's been beautiful and amazing," Brissonnet said.
"I've been having the most beautiful reactions. It's really, really touching and I'm super, super happy. Like, just people coming to me, sincerely, with their heart open, saying it's like one of the best murals they've ever seen," she said.
"I don't want to brag about it or anything, but with so much sincerity, I can see it in their eyes that they truly think it and I never think that of my work or sometimes I always doubt it," she said, "and it's just been really beautiful how people have been reacting to it."
Artist Jason Botkin assisted Brissonnet on the project and has since worked on murals at the Central Theatre.
"He's been super helpful. He's one of my favorite artists. It's been really special to have him around and we've been learning about each other," Brissonnet said.
"Like our artistic techniques and everything and he's also painting on the Central Theatre mural right now, and his style is something, he's like my elder as a muralist, and his style has really influenced me when I was young and I still carry a lot of his knowledge through my work. I've been honored to have him being part of this mural."
Brissonnet has several more murals scheduled around the continent, she said, noting, "My next project is in Montreal and after it's going to be in upstate New York."
Suellen Tillman, left, presents a cake to artist Danaé Brissonnet to thank her for the mural she painted at 110 Central Ave. - Photo by Tanner Newton of The Sentinel-Record