A new flock has arrived in Petaluma, and while it doesn’t fly, it does catch the eye.
Artist Jonny Hirschmugl has completed three new murals along the Lynch Creek Trail, each commissioned by the City of Petaluma, and the result is a vivid, expressive infusion of nature into one of the town’s most trafficked greenways.
With a ribbon-cutting ceremony set for Wednesday, May 14 at 5:30pm, the public is invited to see Slough Birds up close—and maybe chat with the artist himself. “Half my job was chatting with any and most passersby,” Hirschmugl says. “I learned a lot from them, while not getting a whole lot done.”
Hirschmugl, a longtime Petaluma artist known for his unfiltered, physical approach to painting, brought his signature “drip” style to the trail project, adapting it to the outdoors in a way that blends spontaneity with specificity. “I try to keep it as loose and expressive as nature can be,” he says. “Although there is structure in everything, it’s hard to predict which way a branch will grow on a tree, or the line of paint I’m putting to a surface.”
Familiar elements in his work—birds, blossoms—take on new meaning in context. “Even though I tend to add blossoms on my murals, regardless of location, there actually is an old, 20-foot-tall, pink-blossomed magnolia tree right between the walls,” he says. “So, connection.”
That theme of connection carries through every response. “A lot of the people that use this trail live nearby,” Hirschmugl says. “And I’d like them to feel the imagery belongs here.”
Some of those images include corvids, a heron he named Kinokonik and a bird dubbed Ron. “The ol’ raven appears a lot here. Though crows or corvids can be included in describing the birds. A couple of waterfowls, too. A great blue heron named Kinokonik posed for a portrait. And one of the birds named Ron would sing me rhythmic incantations, to keep me tuned to my environment,” he says.
For an artist whose journey once included unsanctioned street art, working with the city now brings a touch of full-circle symmetry. “Um … you’ll have to speak to my lawyer on that. He’s on vacation right now,” Hirschmugl says. “But I’ll paint on anything, just as long as I can get away with it … I’ll also say, it’s nice to play in the sanctioned areas as I get older. I don’t have to constantly be looking over my shoulder. And as for the kids today, I hope they can see some connection with the possibilities of mark-making by a rehabilitated man.”
It’s a characteristically wry but sincere reflection—much like his guiding phrase, “Stay Calm,” which remains a constant presence in works that can be seen throughout Petaluma. “Stay Calm is always on my mind. It’s a part of everything I do,” he says.
“Nature can be both peaceful and hostile,” Hirschmugl notes. “One wall had bundles of 3-foot-tall stinging nettle brushed up against it. And the wall near the slough’s embankment had a sloshy clay ground, almost consistent enough to throw on a potter’s wheel. And if you put your full weight down, you’d risk your boots becoming an entombed part of the landscape.”
Still, Hirschmugl wants the work to speak for itself, up close, in the open air. “The stories our own eyes tell us are uniquely individual,” he says. “We share the similarities, but the deep stuff is different for everyone.”
The City of Petaluma hosts a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Jonny Hirschmugl’s new murals at 5:30pm, Wednesday, May 14, along Lynch Creek Trail. jonnyhirschmugl.com
