Invisible Neighbors
An artistic alter to the spirit of P-22, the mountain lion who surprised the world by spending a decade living in a Los Angeles park.
The painting began by mapping out layers of foliage and building up washes of earthy color. We wanted to capture some of the color nuance, detail, and depth you find in actual nature, so we spent months carefully layering washes and delicate lines.
While the focal point of this painting is P-22, the scene is full of creatures - from a mule deer (P-22’s favorite meal), to a tiny lady bug.
As we painted we loved to hear passersby discover the black Phoebe, the praying mantis or the king snake. The creatures bring life to the artwork and hint at the rich web of life that is needed to support an apex predator like a mountain lion.
Visits from schools throughout the painting process allowed us to share our process with wonderfully curious kids.
The kids would ask us questions about our process, and sit and sketch the artwork. They were excellent observers, always finding new details with each visit.
P-22’s legacy is helping people see Griffith Park through his eyes - as habitat/a home. We wanted to depict P-22 hidden in plain sight, merged with his surroundings, difficult to see until you catch his eyes. Foliage glows around him and flowers bloom. He is surrounded by lushness in the foreground, and bounded by the city in the background. This stark contrast of urban sprawl and biodiversity is a defining feature of P-22’s life story and the story of Los Angeles.
Seed Spire
& Native Garden
In front of one of the walls we painted, we removed Bermuda grass and added a native garden and Seed Spire installation.
The garden was installed by Katherine Pakradouni with native plants she grew from seeds she hand-harvested from P22’s birth place, the western Santa Monica Mountains, and also his resting place, the hills of Griffith Park. This truly is P22’s life death life garden.
