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MOUNTAIN HIGH MURAL FOR CLIENTS MARK & LEAH HALL HOME

MOUNTAIN HIGH MURAL FOR CLIENTS MARK & LEAH HALL HOME
This is a 44 inch wide by 9 feet high mural for a client in Utah County.

Godzilla Mural Project

Godzilla Mural Project
Click on the photo to enter site of the current mural project we are working on in progress by Ricks Fine Art.

FINISHED JUNE 7, 2011

FINISHED JUNE 7, 2011
This 9ft, by 73 ft, mural was began in January 2011, yet the majority of it was painted from mid April to June 7, 2011.

SECTION OF MURAL FOR NOVATEK INTERNATIONAL

SECTION OF MURAL FOR NOVATEK INTERNATIONAL
APRIL 2011. Painted on wall inside industrial building to add color to an otherwise drab space.

MOUNTAIN VISTA MURAL SKETCH

MOUNTAIN VISTA MURAL SKETCH
To see the entire finished Mountain Vista Mural, click on the mural sketch picture.

SILVER LAKE FLAT MURAL SKETCH

SILVER LAKE FLAT MURAL SKETCH
Finished concept sketch

SKETCH FOR GODZILLA MURAL

SKETCH FOR GODZILLA MURAL
THIS MURAL IS CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS

Intelliserv Mural

Intelliserv Mural
This mural was painted from February to June of 2006. Most of it is now covered up with shelving and various industrial equipment, yet you can still se bits and pieces of the mural wich measures 25 feet high and is 150 feet long. The subject is Mount Nebo, one of the main mountain features along the Wasatch Front. People still talk about the project today. Individuals in the fossil fuel and natural gas industries from all over the world enjoy the mural.

Section of Inteliserv Mural

Section of Inteliserv Mural
Another section of Intelliserv Mural created in 2006.

Rock Canyon Mural (First Mural For Novatek)

Rock Canyon Mural (First Mural For Novatek)
This mural was created in 2001. We started it one month before 9/11. The project is eighteen feet high by One Hundred-Twenty feet long. The project took 3 1/2 months to complete.

CONTACT THE ARTIST FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE THEME IDEA

rricks1002@yahoo.com

Habitat Mural Design

Habitat Mural Design
Museum Quality Custom Painted Habitats

Mural for Building Contractor's home

Mural for Building Contractor's home
August 2010

Cabela's Big Game Mural

Cabela's Big Game Mural
This shows a small section of a 144 ft mural in the Big Game Room

Cabela's Big Game

Cabela's Big Game
More Moose Habitat

White Tail Deer Display

White Tail Deer Display
In the studio then at the site in East Hartford, CT

Cabela's Black Bear Display

Cabela's Black Bear Display
Entrance to the Big Game Room in East Hartford, CT store

Cabela's Big Game Display with Interactive Humanoid Robot

Cabela's Big Game Display with Interactive Humanoid Robot
White Tail Habitat section

Cabela's Big Game White Tail Section

Cabela's Big Game White Tail Section
The Whitetail section of a mural totaling 13.5 feet high and 144 feet long

Alcoa, Inc.

Alcoa, Inc.
Ricks Fine Art's own Russell Ricks installing 8 ft. x 30 ft. Alcoa Mural

Alcoa, Inc.

Alcoa, Inc.
Complete Alcoa mural in view

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Interior Murals An Important Part Of The Workplace Environment

After a professional mural painting career of thirty-three plus years, we have heard much positive feed-back from many satisfied customers in a variety of interior settings. Unfortunately we did not take the time to document our customers reactions to our art work. Looking back over the years, we now realize that had we followed up each mural project with a control study, asking the clients employees specific questions regarding the value of art in the workplace, this would have been a valuable resource for us. Some studies are available and this year, we intend to conduct such a follow up study after each mural we produce. One example is found at the following internet address; http://www.nhbca.com/news_031208_workart.php (ART IN THE WORKPLACE, Survey Reveals Workplace Art Collections Are Valuable for Business).

The above mentioned study revealed that art helps businesses address some key challenges, for example;

Reducing stress (78% agree, 8% disagree and 14% neither agree nor disagree).
Increasing creativity and productivity (64% agree, 11% disagree, and 25% neither agree nor disagree).
Enhancing morale (67% agree, 13% disagree, and 20% neither agree nor disagree).
Broadening employee appreciation of diversity and encouraging discussions, and expression of opinions (77% agree, 11% disagree, and 12% neither agree nor disagree).

“The workplace art collection is often an underutilized, sometimes overlooked, business asset,” said Judith A. Jedlicka, President, BCA. “The results of this survey point to the fact that art in the work environment fosters creativity, boosts employee morale and sparks dialogues – all of which are essential to a company’s success.”

This survey also revealed that art in the workplace:

Enhances the work environment (94% agree, 3% disagree, and 3% neither agree nor disagree).
Evidences the company’s interest in improving the quality of life in and out of the workplace (84% agree, 6% disagree, and 10% neither agree nor disagree).
Helps to build customer (65% yes and 34% no) and community relations (73% yes and 27% no).
Leads to networking opportunities (52% yes and 47% no).

Another interesting article relating to this subject can be found at the following web address; http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4568089-1.html

This year, we have enough work lined up with our Novatek customer to keep us busy for twelve plus months. Thus, conducting a control study would be very valuable and it would be a shame to pass this opportunity up. Although we did not take the time to gather information in the past, I recently discovered a very interesting coincidence. First, I must note that we have been producing murals for Novatek since the year 2001. Upon looking at Novatek's website, I discovered a chart which illustrates the number of patents awarded Novatek for inventions, since it's founding in the 1950's and up through 2010. As you analyze this chart, you will observe a slow but steady increase in patents awarded Novatek, from the fifties decade to the year 2000. And interestingly, in the most recent decade, you will notice a drastic increase in this number. In other words, the largest percentage of patents awarded for inventions to the companies credit, were in the past ten years, as compared to previous decades. Pretty impressive. To date, Novatek has a company total of over five hundred patents since their founding and to their credit. It has been said that the company CEO makes more trips to the patent office than the average person goes grocery shopping. In observing the companies productivity first hand, I can tell you that it is hardly an exaggeration. In making this observation, an individual might ask himself, "What is it then, that has caused such an increase in productivity and company success?"

In the past decade and through my own personal observation, Novatek has done several things to improve the work environment for there employees. First I would like to add that I have never heard a Novatek employee say anything negative about the company. I get the impression that morale and productivity has always been high, even in previous decades. Even though the work environment is already top notch, Novatek continues to look for ways to improve their environment. Why? Because all these "extras" improves productivity. Do the math. An increase in productivity increases profits.

After we painted our first mural for Novatek, beginning August 2001 and added framed paintings in their conference rooms and offices, The employees observed that is seemed to add a whole new energizing dimension to the workplace. One of Novatek's customers from Texas once told me, "When I come to Novatek for business, the first thing I usually do is go to the wall where a mural is painted and soak in a little inspiration. It helps me relax and prepare myself for the business at hand."

Since 2001, the company also began to add dozens of sky lights to their rooftops, flooding the interiors with natural light. Their shops are always as clean as a hospital, even their machine shops. Their HVAC system is state-of-the-art, all adding to the employees comfort. Novatek is kind of like a state-of-the-art business incubator. They are continuously developing new technologies from the ground up and creating working prototypes. Everything is provided for them in house for their convenience, from mechanical tools and equipment, marketing research tools, intellectual properties and legal professionals, etc. All these "extra" conveniences, including our murals, seem to have weaved a decade of more successful productivity and profits. Coincidence? We like to think that Ricks Fine Art Murals has now become an important part of the companies productive fabric.

When you think about it, why do corporate officials wear business attire, drive expensive-looking cars, polish their shoes, press their shirts and pants and groom themselves nicely when meeting important customers or making presentations? Is it not because they have learned the right business attire creates a very professional first impression? It has also been shown to improve sales, because it creates an image of success. If spending the money to "dress up" the corporate building with the above described improvements will increase profits, then does it not make sense to do it? In this respect, high quality murals and artwork is the business attire and grooming standard of the corporate professional.

Our mural product is unique. It is more like a gargantuan easel painting than the typical large-scale postery, commercial-looking wall graphic. During my professional career as an artist, seventeen of those years were in the sign industry, supplementing my fine art career for a while. Our real passion is museum quality mural art with heart-felt expression. Anything less than that would seem to us like just another commercial sign job and we don't want to do another sign. We strive to reach beyond that. When we finish a mural project, it is only after we have done everything we can to give the customer our very best. Judging by the data in this article, our "very best" appears to contribute to a companies success.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Mother Of All Blogs

This is just a bulletin to inform the public that our various mural blogs are better organized and easier to navigate. If you go to the main blog http://www.themeroommurals.blogspot.com , you can find links to all our mural sites we have posted. You will find it easy to navigate just by clicking on the photographs or the typed link. Give it a try.

Very soon, we will have an official Ricks Fine Art Murals website which should make navigating even easier.