Mel Eason, owner of Joy Brush Signs, recently completed her mural on the side of the Edward Jones building on the corner of Fowlkes and 2nd Streets in downtown Sealy after seven days of work.

Based out of Houston, Eason said it was the most time she had spent in Sealy although her parents live in Bellville so she wasn’t unfamiliar with Austin County.

Erin Krampitz Designs contacted Joy Brush Signs and brought her out to a blank canvas to do with what she pleased. Financially supported by the Sealy Economic Development Corporation, Executive Director Kimbra Hill said there were plans to bring more artwork to Sealy’s downtown area.

Eason said she primarily does sign painting and lettering on buildings but once she got her feet settled in front of the empty wall, it went as smooth as paintbrush strokes.

“The conversation went from signage to something simple and uplifting that doesn't make a statement. She said, ‘I really like flowers,’ and I said, ‘I love flowers,’” Eason said. “I went to pick out a bouquet for my mom for her birthday and it was so pretty that I rearranged it and photographed it, rendered it on the side of the building digitally and on the first try Erin was like, ‘I love it.’”

The next step was to retrieve the boom lift she rented to reach the top of the wall and once she quashed the worries of driving it down the highway, she soon realized she may have discovered some untapped potential.

“Once I started painting, it just unfolded and I realized that was capable of a lot more than I thought,” Eason said. “Now that I've done this, I think I want to keep going down this road, but I also would love to keep incorporating signs and maybe illustrations together. I think that could be an exciting avenue to go around and I would really like to … elevate my skills as a sign painter to creating uplifting messages for the world. Less about commerce and buying things and more about affecting people's well-being.”

Eason said she similarly encountered struggles as a result of the onset of the coronavirus pandemic but was able to adapt.

“The first two months, maybe two and a half months, it was hard. I had 12 gigs lined up and they were all restaurant gigs. All the restaurants closed and I lost all my work within about three days,” she said. “Then I started doing signs that were more related to the pandemic like curbside pickup or please wear a mask, things like that. Then I got to do some volunteer jobs that had to do with messages from my own heart, and that was what really got me on this path of there's so much more to this than just sign making.”