Odd Jobs, Part 2

Admittedly, this job isn't very "odd" in and of itself, but you might find the ending of the story intriguing. I give you permission to laugh at me as I have had time to get over the shame and hurt...

Sometimes people who need an art related job done will contact universities in the hopes of finding young talent (read: cheap talent). I responded to a few of these requests in my college days, and this particular one was to paint a mural in a downtown hotel restaurant. The need for a new mural arose as a tornado had twisted its way through downtown Salt Lake City and destroyed the old one. It had also taken out several trees from the neighborhood of my youth, but I digress. Anyone who grew up in Salt Lake "knew" we could never get tornadoes because of the mountains. But there it was.

I put off making my proposals for the mural and ended up showing a few ideas I wasn't really excited about. Mistake number one. I also told the owner of the hotel that I thought they needed a new logo because "no one I've talked to likes your current one". Mistake number two. (I'm quite surprised I was so bold!) My main reason for being so rash is that I was to incorporate their hideous logo into my mural, and I didn't want it blemished so.

They wanted me there when the restaurant was closed, so I painted at night. After a few weeks it was complete, and I neglected to take any pictures of the finished product. I figured I could come back some time later and take care of that. Mistake number three. Within a year the restaurant had been bought out and become a sports bar. My mural was replaced by a wall of sports figures. When I first saw it I stared at their cruel faces for a while and wondered if my painting was hidden beneath. I may have to wait for another tornado to ever find out.