Ocean Mural on Tamaki Drive: My Chill Turtle & Sea Creatures – Lucia LaubscherAs 2025 drew to a close, I found myself diving into another exciting KiwiRail project—this time on a much smaller, more intimate scale compared to the massive 160-metre railway corridor wall I painted back in April. The canvas? A humble stop box along Tamaki Drive in Parnell, Auckland, right beside the sparkling ocean. It felt like the perfect spot for my underwater creature designs—the location’s breezy sea vibes and salty air made everything click into place.I’d sketched that chill turtle ages ago, dreaming of the day it would swim onto a real outdoor surface in a piece of public art. So when this opportunity came along, I was beyond thrilled—finally, my favourite sea turtle was getting its moment in the sun (and salt spray!). I kept the ocean theme close to my heart, adding a bold tribal-patterned octopus, a graceful jellyfish, a majestic manta ray, playful starfish and seahorses, then tying it all together with swirling bubbles and gentle waves.The whole Auckland mural came together in just about three sunny days. I was incredibly lucky with the weather—bright skies and just enough shade from the big tree overhead to keep the summer heat at bay while I worked. Every brushstroke felt joyful, like the ocean itself was cheering me on.I loved every minute of bringing this ocean themed mural to life, and it’s left me buzzing with ideas. Here’s to more sea-inspired public art pieces and underwater creature murals in 2026—watch this space!
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Sparking Creativity Together: My Student Collaboration Mural at Glenfield Intermediate, Auckland1/8/2026 From Student Ideas to Wall Art: My Collaborative Mural Journey at Glenfield Intermediate School Late last year, I had the absolute pleasure of spending an hour or two with a group of wonderfully creative students from Glenfield Intermediate School in Auckland. We gathered to brainstorm and dream up the best ways to bring the school’s core values—the Four R's: Responsibility, Resilience, Respect, and Relationships—to life on a wall.The kids dove right in, pencils flying as they sketched out their ideas, capturing what those values meant to them in bright, imaginative ways. It was inspiring to watch their energy and see how thoughtfully they translated big ideas into drawings. After collecting all their brilliant concepts, I collated them into a few different design options. Then the Principal and staff stepped in, thoughtfully selecting the strongest elements from each one and asking me to blend them with the school’s unique aesthetics, culture, and a touch of native patterned designs that felt right for the space. In the end, a vibrant, slightly abstract, and beautifully patterned values-inspired mural emerged, with the school logo proudly taking centre stage.We painted it directly onto a brick wall of one of the school buildings, overlooking the netball fields. The result? A splash of colour and positivity that instantly brightens the whole area and reminds everyone who passes by of what the school stands for.I completed the entire Glenfield Intermediate mural over three joyful days, mostly using spray paint to achieve those bold, flowing patterns. Every session felt special—knowing the artwork was born from real student ideas made the process even more meaningful.I love these collaborative school mural projects because they turn young voices into something lasting and uplifting. Here’s to more student collaboration art adventures in the future!
The summer season started off with painting one of my favorite artworks of the year - a lovely poolside mural in Mount Eden - for some of my favorite clients of the year! Suzanne and Rob were truly lovely and entrusted me with splashing a colourful scene on their garden wall. This artwork included many of the clients' favorite New Zealand birds, plants and beaches. Suzanne and Rob wanted a bright and busy artwork to add colour to their otherwise neutral outdoor space. With the wild West Coast beaches of Auckland being their favorite spots, I included two particularly recognizable scenes on the background, and scattered native flowers and plants across the scene, with a majestic Pohutukawa tree standing proud in one corner.
Suzanne requested a nod to her Maori heritage to be included in the wall art, and with a bright Maori sun and some tribal patterns scattered into the overall design, the mural is brought to life with a mix of realism and abstract. Ready for your own custom mural? Get in touch This year has been a busy one, and I am so grateful for all the wonderful clients and projects I was able to be a part of. From my largest commercial mural yet - the 160m railway corridor wall in Henderson - to my largest private mural, this year was full of challenges, new learning and joyful finishes! Being able to spend my days painting or drawing is still a bit of a dream to me, and whenever I work alongside some of the school students on a project and they ask me if I get to draw and paint for work, I am reminded of what an immense blessing it is to be able to say "yes". Their little faces always light up and joyous expressions of "I want to be an artist oneday" fills my heart with warmth and gladness that I am able to live out my childhood dream. Of course, they're not particularty interested in the logistics or the admin involved with running an art studio, but even these moments are still a joy most of the time. This year I learned that sometimes even our biggest dreams come true, even when we are scared that it may actually happen and when we stand up and face up to those big dreams in spite of our fears of it, we can achieve many great things. At the end of last year I entered a design for consideration to be used on the railway corridor. I didn't fully realise the scale of the project and once I've submitted my design and tried to visualize the size of the wall, I felt a sense of dread that my design may actually be chosen. And it was. And I was kind of petrified that I may not be able to actually complete what I had set out to do, simply because I had never done it before on such a large scale. But with some encouragement from my family and some planning I managed to get myself hyped up enough to know that somehow I WILL do it. Long story short, I managed to get my design onto the wall, although I had to slightly alter it to be able to get it onto the wall in the limited time we had access to the railway corridor, and I could proudly say I completed my biggest mural yet early in the year. Looking back on it there are elements I wish I did different, others I am very happy and proud of, and overall a sense of relief that it is done. I completed a couple of canvas paintings for clients in between and completed a couple of in-studio mural panel projects for schools as well. And I illustrated three different picture books! I realised I still have a lot to learn and improve on when coming to illustrations for picture books, and I am hoping to get something going on this side of things a bit more in the coming year. I managed to create on large canvas painting just for myself, experimenting with a different painting technique and just having fun. I completed a walkway mural on a fence and worked with a couple of different schools and their students to create meaningful art for the schools. Great Barrier Island was a great place to visit for the first time and working alongside the tamariki during a school holiday program to create a fun and colourful mural on their basketball court was a wonderful experience. Having my eldest daughter Kayla spend her time with me as an intern as part of her high school education was another highlight for the year and she painted one mural panel all by herself, as well as designed another mural for another school, created an album cover for a local NZ musician and created a custom doodle backpack as part of her intership. I also added some new products for sale on my website, added some onto the Felt website and continue to design more merchandise. There are still some projects in progress, but for now we are taking a much deserved rest and will be back to work just before the new year! If you're ready to turn your own space into a custom artwork, get in touch now for space in 2026! Last month, I was thrilled to visit Great Barrier Island for the first time. It’s a stunning and unique place with friendly, welcoming people. In March, Michelle reached out, and we excitedly planned a workshop for the island’s youth to create a vibrant mural on a wall at the local marae. I flew in on a Cesna and was warmly welcomed with a traditional Māori pōwhiri at the marae. That night, I stayed there with the energetic rangatahi (youth) and tamariki, after a delicious meal prepared by the women. On the first day, we used VR headsets to trace elements onto card for stencils. The kids loved previewing the mural and tracing the designs. Teens cut out the stencils with snapblade knives, while younger children and some older youth applied the base coat to the wall. Then we sprayed on background colors, working together and enjoying homemade pizza for lunch outside. The younger kids had fun spraying the stencils onto the wall, while teens added details with brushes and paint. Finally, we finished with bold black outlines using spray paint and markers to polish it all up.   |
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