From Ambitious Challenge to Iconic Mural: Artist Leaves Her Mark on Carlsbad

by R. Gabriel Villalobos

On a crisp Friday evening this past October, a solitary figure stood on a platform 25 feet above the ground, brush in hand, putting the finishing touches on a larger-than-life roadrunner towering above an empty parking lot. The wall it was painted on belongs to the City of Carlsbad’s public racquetball courts near The Cascades.

The artist, Audrey DeBleecker, stood applying paint, looking exhausted but satisfied. She signaled that she was coming down and then took a break to talk about the massive project she was bringing to a close.

After a week of toiling over the mural that now dominates the surrounding landscape, Audrey relished the chance to sit down and relax as she talked about how this all came about. She explained that it started in April, when she came to town from Midland to paint the first two sides of the same structure. This time, she was finishing the project with the third and final outward-facing wall on the exterior of the racquetball courts.

Audrey works for Permian Resources in marketing. Her employer sponsored this project and seems likely to deploy her creativity for similar projects in the future. Mary Garwood, who works for the City and manages the Keep Carlsbad Beautiful initiative, coordinated with Lyndsey White at Permian Resources.

The two worked together to bring Audrey out and undertake this mammoth-sized project. Now Carlsbad has one more epic landmark: a beautiful new piece of public art. It’s an iconic mural that will identify our city in vacation photos and selfies from now on.

Audrey admitted that she challenged herself with this painting. “I bit off more than I could chew, and then I learned how to chew,” she declared.

Her confidence as an artist has been bolstered by the people around her. Friends and colleagues have demonstrated total faith in her ability to take on and conquer such ambitious feats. She shared how a business owner in Midland offered up a wall at her establishment for Audrey to work her magic.

Erica Mann is the owner of The Blue Door in Midland. She became an important patron for Audrey. A mural Audrey painted for her still covers the wall. Likewise, Lyndsey White and Mary Garwood presented Audrey with an opportunity too good to pass up: a chance to leave her mark on our fine city.

“I covered about 6,000 square feet altogether with this mural,” Audrey explained. She didn’t do it completely on her own, though. Volunteers joined in and helped, and multiple groups pitched in and took turns assisting. They all followed Audrey’s design; they just filled in areas with colors she provided.

“I wanted to create that wow factor with this one,” Audrey remarked. She achieved her goal. The mural is visible from a distance, and it drew many curious onlookers as people noticed it and approached from different directions.

At the time of this interview, Audrey had finished everything except the logo for Permian Resources. She made a point of saying that she is proud to be at Permian Resources. “We’re a clean operator here in the region,” she pointed out.

She loves her job and has a lot of respect for the people she works with. She told me how she sees the hard work they put in and the stress they go through on the operations side to maintain the high standards they set for themselves.

Audrey is hopeful that she will get to come back before long and do more projects like this in Carlsbad, as her company tries to maintain a good connection with the people of Carlsbad.

She seems to enjoy the people and food here. Even though she still has to fulfill her normal work duties while she’s here, she manages to have a good time. And even though the October sun can feel like punishment for working outdoors, the cool evening air always seems to arrive just in time.