Overlooked Artistry at Universal Studios

Art is everywhere. I’ve said it for years, and I’ll say it again. Art is everywhere.

But maybe it would be more accurate to say “Artists touch everything.” Well… no, that’s not right either. “You can find the touch of an artist everywhere you look.” That’s more like it! Now we don’t sound like creeps.

Cue the horror music!

Exhibit A: The cover for the official instructions on how to file your Form-1040, aka your TAX RETURN (if you live in the US.) Isn’t it beautiful? An artist took that photograph. A graphic designer created the IRS logo. And the FreeFile logo. Another designer laid out the rest of the page, with a font that was specifically chosen. The list goes on. That piece of paper from the Internal Revenue Service that has the power to keep people awake at night, is a thing of beauty. And what exposure it gets! The majority of adults in the United States are required to file a Form-1040 every year! The artists involved must be SOOOO famous (whoever they are!)

But, Haley, I thought we were talking about Universal! It even says it in the title! Right you are, friend.

For Spring Break this year we spent four days at Universal Studios: going on all sorts of rides, casting spells at the Wizarding World, and just enjoying the warmth of summertime… but in March (an unusual thing for Iowans.) Emma’s favorite ride was E.T., Alex could have spent the whole vacation playing at the toddler park in the Curious George area, and my stepsons went on the Hulk rollercoaster about 8 times, I think. My absolute favorite part of Universal, however, is the atmosphere.

The E.T. ride gets pretty weird.

I could spend my days just staring at the false buildings and storefronts, lost in the tiny details that make Universal Studios an experience, instead of just a bunch of rides. From area to area, and even ride to ride, the uniforms are different for the personnel. There’s even different music playing around you, that relates to which area of the park you are in. I remember my stepsons getting tired of me pointing it all out a few years ago on our first vacation there: “Look! An artist painted that!” “An artist made this wall look so old!” “Look, this is fake rust on this sign, hand painted by an artist!” “YES, HALEY, WE KNOW!”

But do you? I have a hard time fathoming the extensive team it took to design and implement all of it. Here’s a great example, the door going into the SpongeBob SquarePants shop:

I'm ready! I'm ready!

The 3-dimensional building is painted to look like it belongs in a 2-dimensional cartoon, under the sea. The artists working on it (I can’t imagine it was just one person) used varying shades and tints of each color to accent and help define the edges of the faux paneling on the wall, and the “grain” of the “wooden” door. The décor inside is all related to the kids’ TV show – there’s even a framed “Employee of the Month” picture of SpongeBob on the wall.

Where can I get red shingles like that?

Another excellent example from a kids’ TV show: Curious George! This area of Universal is a waterpark, where they have “books” laid out with pages open to read, letting kids feel like they are running around inside the story! The technique here is genius – painting the buildings flat but vivid colors, with bright trim, lots of signs, and black paint along the edges and details, making it look more 2-dimensional and cartoony, outlined just like the illustrations in the Curious George books!

The artists spent hours and hours of painting by hand to make the bricks look exactly right. Check out the ornate details on these railings and windows, and the sign made of lightbulbs – it’s all custom designed and created for these specific buildings – many of which are false fronts! Thank you, artists!

And because it was the McAndrews clan, of course we spent a lot of time in the Wizarding World. Replicating Diagon Alley must have been a massive endeavor – and they nailed it! As you enter through the “magic” brick wall, you hear the sound of the bricks shifting and clacking, and then you are hit with the unmistakable music from the movies. You really feel like you’ve entered a magical place, particularly with so many people dressing in Hogwarts robes and waving their magical wands around!

It's us. We are the robe-wearing wand wavers.

Universal is such a popular destination for people from all over the world, that wait times for the rides are regularly 60-120 minutes or more! It’s brilliant, but they (Universal) have planned out the areas where you wait in line and decorated them so you feel immersed – for the Spider-man ride, you walk through the Daily Bugle office; for the King Kong ride, you weave your way through a jungle temple; and for the Hogwarts ride, you find yourself exploring the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It’s all decorated spectacularly, with hidden Easter eggs for devout fans to pick out.

I could listen to the paintings argue all day.

It’s such an incredible experience to be there with my kids, and I look forward to going back again when my girls are a little bit older (and able to go on more rides) but not too old to stop believing in the magic there. Emma was so excited about going to “Harry Potter’s castle” before we went this time, and now that we are home likes to talk about how much “Mommy screams on all the rides!”

Inspiration: Florida

Our 2022 Spring Break trip down to Florida was memorable in a number of different ways. First, we drove down. It was 24 hours down, about 30 hours back. My 16 year old stepson drove for about 18 hours total throughout the trip. And honestly, it went as smoothly as possible! Though we were all pretty sick of snacks (and being in my minivan) by the time we got home.

The first half of our trip was spent in the Panacea-Alligator Point area, up on the panhandle. Just a few blocks down the beach from where we were visiting my grandparents, lives an incredible watercolor artist named Tonya Toole. My Auntie Barb introduced us, and Tonya gave me a tour of her studio.

Jealous much? Me too.

We discussed different watercolor techniques, and she told me about some of the pieces hanging there in her studio. It’s hard for me to explain the feeling I get when I’m around other artists but it’s like excitement, a feeling of finding and recognizing my people, mixed with admiration and inspiration. This is part of the reason I love studio tours and gallery receptions so much (though my attendance has waned in recent years with young children under my feet.) Being around other artists is rejuvenating!

Of course she asked me about my own art and I had nothing whatsoever to show, as my phone was at 12% or less battery life the whole week due to a faulty charging cord. And despite seeing numerous authors online saying “bring copies of your book EVERYWHERE with you” I had forgotten those too! But I told her to look for me on Facebook, and she was able to find my page pretty easily.

Tonya invited me to come back as she was hosting an art group for a few hours the next morning. A group of watercolor painters in the area will get together regularly at one of their houses or studios, they bring snacks and bars, and they all paint together. Each time they meet, there’s a proposed theme for the next sessions paintings: this time it was “farm animals.” (Following the theme isn’t required, but having a prompt definitely helps you from wasting the first hour of painting time staring at a looming blank white paper.) A few of the artists already had their drawings ready to go on the paper, others sketched once they got settled.

Caution: artists at work!

Diving right in!

Since I was only there for a brief audit of the group, I was able to do an impromptu presentation of some of my artwork (I borrowed Tonya’s laptop and talked to them about the paintings I have on my website.) I also told them about my children’s books “If Only I Had” and the one I’m currently working on: “Counting Toasters 1 to 10.” I even sold a couple copies of my book (which I didn’t have with me!) I was at least able to find one single business card in my wallet, which they all had to share. Sometimes I am the embodiment of the saying “you’d forget your head if it wasn’t attached!”

Impromptu show-and-tell.

There was such a variety among the group, people from different states (only two were actually from Florida) and even some artists that had moved to the United States from other countries. The watercolor expertise level was wide-ranging; even the farm animals were well represented: chickens, pigs, and sheep (and Tonya’s fish, which she was still working on from the previous get-together.)

Look how beautiful all the paintings are!

Being an active part of a group like this is now on my 5-year list. I used to get together for a weekend a few times a year with some friends who are also artists, very similarly to this group in Florida (but with more alcohol involved.) It would be fantastic to get involved in one now, but it will be much easier to commit to once my littles are slightly bigger and more self-sufficient. For now, I’ll have to rely on my shows and Facebook connections for artistic comradery.

My inspiration doesn’t just come from being around other artists, it also comes from nature. Iowa in the winter is dead and brown when there’s no snow on the ground, and seeing the change in climate as we drove through other states was almost jarring. For example, Missouri had more snow than we did. And Florida is green and covered in Spanish moss all year round. I have a great love of Spanish moss, and even have a tiny clump of it that lives in a jar on my kitchen windowsill.

#plantmom

One of the days in northern Florida we took a trip up to Wakulla Springs. We had a great time! My stepsons braved the chilly water and jumped in from the top of the platform (had I brought my swimsuit, I swear I would have jumped too! 😉) The river boat tour there is fantastic – we even saw a group of four manatees! I took a number of photos there, most of them of beautiful trees, draped in blankets of lovely moss.

Now I need to learn to paint water.

Returning home after a trip like that is a mixed bag of emotions. It’s depressing, coming home to scenery lacking in life and literal warmth (particularly after spending 30 hours in a minivan to get there), but at the same time I can’t wait to get out my brushes and paint! One of my earlier blog posts was about how travel has influenced my artwork, and I just know this trip is going to be one I’ll paint about afterward. Expect to see some moss-covered bayou trees from me in the near future!