This mural was done for a young girl who has aspirations of becoming a marine biologist someday. The mural needed to be serene (it is in her bedroom), fun and whimsical, while at the same time including as many "real" depictions of marine life (fish, coral, seaweed) as possible. The mermaid idea came from a greeting card the young lady had kept in her scrapbook which inspired her. The colors of the coral reef were taken from the background of a restaurant menu the family had collected while on a tropical vacation. The soffit was painted to look like the surface of the water as if you're looking up at it from under the sea.