I was recently contacted by the LAFD Co. 6 to paint a mural of their logo on the firehouse wall.
The call came about 6 weeks after my husband and I watched a house in our neighborhood go up in flames as we were getting home from a night out. We watched totally awestruck for almost 2 hours, as our local firemen sprung into action in the wee hours of the night, climbing into the darkness, cutting into the roof with chainsaws blinded by smoke, searching through the house with crumbling floorboards, and somehow rescuing every single inhabitant, before putting out this beastly blaze.
This may sound like "yeah, that's what fire fighters do"... but when you really see all those things in person it is different. It was as orchestrated as a piece of classical music, more heroic than anything I have ever seen. I told myself that night I wanted to give back to the Fire Department in some way, but I wasn't sure how.
Needless to say, I was really excited when the LAFD contacted me last week! We quickly realized they weren't in the position to pay my regular rate for the project, so I decided to donate half of my labor as a way to honor what they do. The guys took up a collection for the funds, basically solidifying a heartwarming feeling about the whole situation.
Painting away...
The finished product, clocked in at a record 6 hours.
It was a true honor to spend the day at the firehouse with a bunch of stand-up guys. AND I got to play a little dress-up after all the work was done. Thanks James!! Yahhhh!
