Well-known Bay Area mural artists John Wehrle and Daniel Galvez joined me in a team to take on this monster project for the city of Dublin. Covering two long freeway underpass interiors (four 200 foot + walls) and four bridge exterior faces, makes this the largest project I've worked on.

The interior murals, presented in an illusionary arched colonnade, depict the 'story' of Dublin - and there is room enough for the entire unabridged version! It also appears as though historical sub plots and figures are standing in front of these 'murals' and around the columns. The timeline is often shuffled to lend itself to humorous juxtapositions. My focus on this project was the giant Celtic discs (homage to the city's namesake), that loom as gateways to the underpasses. A closer look behind the broken layers of hewn stone reveals translucent pre-peg resin and binary inscriptions. In an attempt to decipher the code, a question arises of whether these ancient medallions are real -- or halo-matrix deceptions.

Further hidden truths are unearthed as the huge medallions begin to mysteriously rotate open. As we shine our flashlights through the dark opening into the heart of the concrete chamber, we discover an ancient dragon, lying as motionless as the stone-carved beasts in front.

Here lays the Celtic legend of Ouroboros (great earth serpent), asleep for over a thousand years, undisturbed and unbelieved-in. Perhaps his true wakefulness depends on our belief, or at least the consciousness of mortals. New science exiles his existence and computer-generated effects 'cry wolf' to us everyday. It's great to fantasize; but even the fact that this is a painted illusion compounds a deeper disbelief. Yet we desperately want to believe. Although there are many wonderful mysterious things in the universe that await our discovery, we ache for a time when the creatures from uncharted sections of a map were so real. Alas, the dragon sadly slipped into his cave, a long, long time ago.