Michelle Sawyer temporarily faced her fear of heights Tuesday morning. She stood on a mechanical lift 20 feet above the parking lot of Val’s Home Décor with a paint roller in hand.
“I’d rather be on a lift than a ladder,” she said.
Down below, her husband, Tony Krol, admired the work they’d completed.
“I’m pretty happy with it,” he said.
A giant octopus mural was starting to take shape. Tony and Michelle had spent the previous five days dodging rain to work on it. The piece will transform a bland, tan-colored wall into a work of art.
It’s the latest project for the couple that was brought together by painting.
“It was work ethic at first sight,” Michelle said. “I’m not very mushy.”
Love at first sight? Not exactly. But there was an attraction for Michelle.
“Oh believe me, if it weren’t true, I’d tell you otherwise,” she said.
Tony and Michelle have completed murals in downtown Tampa and Tampa Heights neighborhoods. They have done more than a half-dozen of them. Tony is more inclined to design digitally and Michelle prefers sketching out ideas.
They were paired together on a mural project in February 2013. Two months later, they married.
“You’ll never meet anybody like this,” Tony said, recalling his thoughts upon working with Michelle. “Might as well get married.”
Now, they operate a gallery, Illsol, and stay busy creating murals and custom works of art. The octopus on the side of Val’s should be completed later this month.
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