When starting a new painting, most artists face a blank canvas set on an easel.
Usually, they can tuck that canvas beneath an arm, set up the easel wherever they want and begin painting.
Kailey Rorer is unlike most artists.
Her blank canvas in Naperville is a white brick wall that measures 124 feet long and 25 feet tall.
“I do murals full time and always love getting these huge canvases,” she said Thursday.
Rorer, 36, of Sycamore, is painting a mural on the east side of the building that houses the Cava, Crisp & Green and Velvet Taco restaurants at Naperville’s Block 59 development.
“I’m always so inspired by how completely you can transform a space with paint. I strongly believe the way an environment looks affects the people in the environment so I feel really lucky to do that,” she said.
She began painting Tuesday, and hopes to finish by the end of next week.
A boom lift allows artist Kailey Rorer to paint higher parts of a mural she’s working on at Block 59 in Naperville. Bricks painted white are easier to work with as they don’t need as many layers as do unpainted bricks, she said. (Steve Metsch/Naperville Sun)
The color theme wasn’t hard to decide as it matches the green, yellow, terracotta and turquoise found in Block 59 logo.
Those same colors are found in chairs on the outdoor common area near The Cheesecake Factory north of the mural.
Planning a mural has Rorer sketching ideas on paper first, then on her iPad, which she shows to a client.
“I wanted to create a fluidity, which I have with a yellow line that ties it through. It creates the movement of the piece,” Rorer said.
For this mural, Rorer uses a latex-based exterior paint from Sherwin-Williams. When it’s time to cleanup her paint-speckled hands, soap and water do the trick.
Rorer sent the Brixmor Property Group, owner of the dining and entertainment development, two designs to consider. The abstract botanical theme was selected.
“The changes weren’t huge. The overall feel of the original mural stayed pretty consistent,” she said.
Rorer declined to reveal her paycheck for the work other than it’s the “highest one (I’ve been contract for), which is pretty exciting.”
Rainy weather kept her from painting on Wednesday, but she can usually start painting again about 30 minutes after the precipitation stops.
This is what the mural being painted on the wall at Block 59 in Naperville by artist Kailey Rorer will look like when finished next week. (Kailey Rorer/Brixmor Property Group)
“Luckily, today has been great. Friday looks great. I’ll probably paint on Saturday,” she said Thursday.
Painting on brick already painted white is a boon.
“When I paint on raw brick, it’s definitely going to absorb paint quicker, so you’re going to need more layers. This was already pre-painted white. That helps a lot,” she said.
The only time Rorer ran into rain trouble was when she was painting an outdoor mural on The Greenhouse, a plant and coffeeshop she and her husband, Troy, own in Sycamore. The rain caused some paint to drip.
“I did have to come back the next day and clean some drips up,” she said. “You can paint over it.”
To reach the higher parts of the wall, she uses a boom lift she rented for the job.
She enjoys when people watch her paint, and welcomes vistors. “It’s always fun painting a mural,” she said.
One such visitor Thursday was Maria Herrera, 22, of Aurora, who paused to admire Rorer’s artwork as she walked out Cava’s back door — on the mural’s left side — following her workday as a shift leader at the Mediterranean restaurant.
Asked for her review, she said, “I actually love it. The building doesn’t look boring. It looks very joyful. Very soothing.”
Rorer smiled hearing that.
A former music teacher, she’s a self-taught artist who has been painting full time for about a decade.
Kailey Rorer, a Sycamore artist, carefully stirs green paint Thursday in the back of her SUV for the mural she’s painting on a wall at Block 59 in Naperville. (Steve Metsch/Naperville Sun)
“The murals started in 2020 when (the COVID-19 pandemic) hit. I started painting them in my house because we were stuck at home. Our kids each have a mural in their bedroom. We brainstormed together,” she said.
Ava, 12, Gracie, 10, and T.J., 8, are all “ready for an update (of their murals),” Rorer said with a laugh.
If you don’t get a chance to see Rorer do her thing, you can soon watch another artist in action at Block 59.
In July, Alyssa Low, a Chicago-based artist, is scheduled to start painting a mural at Five Below on the white wall that faces south.
Both murals were unanimously approved by the Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission in March, and had been envisioned for Block 59 from the start.
“From the beginning, our goal for Block 59 was to create a strong sense of place and a destination where the Naperville community can come together,” Rich Dippolito, vice president of real estate/development for Brixmor Property Group, said in a news release.
“We’ve placed a strong emphasis on thoughtful design throughout and these murals are a natural extension of that vision,” he said.
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.