When she’s not busy with customers and classes, artist and businesswoman Mae Orm has a couple of “rather large projects” in the works to brighten up the days – for herself

and others, too.

One is a first for her. After receiving permission to tidy up the space facing Pine Street between her shop, Pinedale Art and Crafts, and the Tegeler’s Insurance building next door, Orm also

got the building owner’s blessing to cover an outside wall with a fun, vibrant mural of a cutthroat trout.

She originally created the cutthroat painting to submit to the Wyoming Game and Fish annual conservation stamp contest.

“I thought for awhile what to do with this space and Keri Tegeler OK’d my painting a mural out here,” she said, showing the computer-generated version of her own stylized cutthroat trout

painting. “My first-ever mural outside and my largest piece of art to date.”

After the wall was painted dark brown, Orm sketched out the design and is placing her very bright color choices – with cans of spray paint.

She said fellow artist David Klarén, whose orange and blue barbwire landscape decorates the side of the Pinedale Post Office, is helping her with lots of advice.

“He’s been kind of my mentor about what paints will stand up to the elements outside here and have the colors not fade,” she said.

She has areas that still need colors placed and works when she can to cover the brown background. The final stage will be to fill in edges and sharpen the design.

“You won’t be able to see the brown any more when it’s done,” Orm said. “I have a couple more weeks of painting.”

Orm sets up a tripod as she works to record and when the mural is completed will play the video on fast-forward. This is not a town funded public art project, she added, just a “personal thing.”

The courtyard itself is much brighter and more visible after a large heavy wall between the two businesses came down. “This space was really uneven and patchy.”

Pinedale Girl Scouts planted gardens along her outside walls to share produce with people and earn badges, inspiring her to start her own garden in the small open space.

Orm’s second “large project” has her prepping her ’93 Mustang for a more permanent version of her “Art Car.” Orm painted it once but eventually washed it off; this upcoming version will

be permanent. Hoping to give people something to smile about, she said.