All at Once
2024 Street Wise Mural Festival
Location: Morrison Alley behind Art Source International, 1237 Pearl St Boulder, CO 80302
Photos by Dona and Niko Laurita, Cam Margera, and Dittlo Digital
Situated above the back door of Art Source International, Noelle Miller’s mural for #SWMF2024 offers a dreamy abstracted landscape for viewers who venture down Morrison Alley.
Noelle illustrates the water cycle in Colorado, spotlighting low-water plants that aid in xeriscaping to reduce our water usage. All at Once depicts evaporation, condensation, and accumulation, interconnected processes that fuel the water cycle.
A set of flaming orange circles rises behind the mountains, mirroring the movement of the sun. Water evaporates from a body of water toward the clouds, turning from liquid to vapor due to heat. Maroon and purple mountains emerge in the background, veiled by light pink clouds. These clouds represent the condensation of water when it cools and turns from vapor to tiny water droplets. In the center of the mural a swirling teal and blue pond accumulates water for storage. Ribbons of white encircle the scene, evoking the circular water cycle.
Hands peak out throughout the mural, a symbol Noelle often uses in her work. In this instance, the hands represent the human role in the water cycle and the positive effects we can have on water usage by being mindful of this role.
The artist lives in a suburban neighborhood with HOA rules that require pristine green lawns, doling out fines to homeowners who don’t properly tend their grass. Such unsustainable practices make little sense in the drought-prone environment. We should work with the environment rather than against it. Enter xeriscaping!
Xeriscaping creates beautiful and unique yards that feature native and low-water plants, cutting household water usage by 35-50%. Noelle features several low-water plants in the mural. The purple and pink landscape sprouting with feather grass and Rocky Mountain Penstemon surrounds the pond. The golden yellow blooms of the Early Sunrise Coreopsis flourish on the left side of the mural.
The artist’s abstract style stands out amongst her peers. Inspired by abstract artists like Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko, and Cy Twombly, Noelle states that the process is a free, unplanned, and expressive outlet, always bringing out her emotions. Her reliance on abstraction sets her apart from other muralists, but also presents challenges as clients often prefer representational imagery. She aims to combine the two styles in an authentic way.
All at Once seeks to inspire conversations about the attainable, positive ways we can take water usage in our hands.
Artist Bio:
Noelle Miller is a mixed media artist living and working in Northern Colorado. After graduating from CSU with a BFA in Drawing, she moved to Asheville, North Carolina to begin her career as a working artist. Now back in Colorado, she bridges the chapters of her life through an accumulated language of colors and marks learned during these times.
Within her work, Noelle uses processes that are largely uncontrollable combined with meticulously structured elements. Large washes of color are layered beneath measured and pre-drawn patterns, entwined with representational imagery inspired by an array of subjects, but most frequently time in nature with her children.
All of the pattern work is freehand painted, as a nod to the human element, with sketch marks left revealed as a representation of control. Nothing can ever be perfect. Her hope is that the viewer feels the symbiotic relationship of control vs the uncontrollable and that they are grounded in the present moment while examining the layers and following the lines through each artwork.