It’s an overcast mid-August afternoon: a good day for painting, says artist Cheryl Waale.

On Main Street in Edmonds, the eastern wall of the Very Taki Tiki Bar is transforming. Though a view of Puget Sound is blocked by the building, as Waale continues to paint, the wall shows the sun begin to set over the water.

“An Edmonds Kind of Eve” is Waale’s first outdoor mural, a tree-lined landscape with her signature brush strokes that boast bold colors. The original picture being painted on the wall is a stylized picture of the view outside Waale’s Shoreline-based studio.

“It’s better than I expected,” she says, taking a break on what is her fifth day of work on the mural. She is wearing a paint-splattered hoodie and comfortable shoes. “I’m really having fun.”

Friends stop by and chat about her progress, while her family mans a table with information about Waale’s other art ventures and the Edmonds Mural Society, the organization that commissioned the mural.

“I need to put my headphones on more,” Waale laughs, pulling the earbuds from her shirt. “It’s hard to concentrate and socialize.”

Retirement in full color

When Waale retired from her corporate coaching job more than four years ago, it only took six months before she realized she wanted to paint. Though a Shoreline resident, Waale is now an established member of the Edmonds art community and her work is sold by merchants in the city.

Waale first started with oils and began experimenting with abstract; she painted trees, abandoned them, and then reintroduced them to her work.

As an artist, she says, “you’re just an instrument for something that wants to come through.”

What usually wants to come through in Waale’s work, as evidenced by the ever-more-focused art on the side of A Very Taki Tiki Bar, is vivid color.

But then again, as an artist, she says, “What better way to live in retirement than in full color?” Waale asks.

An outdoor art gallery

“An Edmonds Kind of Eve” is the Edmonds Mural Society’s fourth commissioned mural, with two more in the works before the end of the year.

The Society selected Waale’s work after culling submissions for their second year of facilitating murals in Edmonds. Communities across the country have started mural initiatives to celebrate public art and drive economic growth, says Manya Vee, Society board member and one of the instigators of the project.

Vee, who owns downtown Edmonds art shop Manya Vee Selects, was inspired by a mural project begun in her hometown of Toppanish, Wash., 20 years ago.

“It brought traffic to the town, and had a positive impact on economic viability,” she says, adding it also generated a sense of community pride. The town now has over 70 murals.

Vee is hoping the same comes from the Edmonds mural project. “It’s a chance for people to gather around and meet neighbors, and talk about the beauty and history of Edmonds.”

The Mural Society is 100 percent funded by the community through donations and memberships in the Society. Society members get to vote on what types of murals go up on Edmonds open spaces.

The goal is to make Edmonds an outdoor art gallery, by commissioning five murals per year. And that will likely be a boon for Edmonds, says Vee. She has yet to meet a detractor from the mural project.

“Communities that have public art thrive,” confirms Waale.

Creating something happy

One thing unique to Edmonds’ murals is the variety: The first two the EMS commissioned this year are historical pieces by Andy Eccleshall and Greg Hartman, as most murals in the country are. Waale’s is a rarer landscape, and the last mural for the year will be an abstract piece.

“I know my art is not for everybody. I want to create something that just feels happy.”

Looking at the sun set behind the Olympics on the side of a bar and grill, it’s hard not to.