SANDPOINT — As Maria Larson went to answer a question about her new mural at Sandpoint Super Drug, tears gathered in her eyes. 

“My mother always told me not to be braggadocios, if somebody likes something you do, you say, ‘Thank you’ and you move on,” Larson said with a longing look and smile on her face. “She didn’t know how hard that was going to be when I decided to be an artist and have to sell my work.” 

After the idea to memorialize Sandpoint, the city she loves, baked in her mind for two decades, she stepped up to ask Scott and Autumn Porter if the design could adorn the side of their iconic building. That feeling is why, even after 40 years as an artist, Larson’s latest work is one that she is proud of. 

"To approach someone about this, it was a leap for me ... after all these years it was still scary,” Larson said. “I’m having a little trouble believing that it’s actually done, that it’s gone from years in my head to now, it’s real.” 

The mural features iconic landmarks of the city’s past and present from the tent formerly used by the Festival at Sandpoint to the Panida Theater. Larson has been in and around Sandpoint since 1960 and hoped that the piece would capture the feeling of the city. 

Larson said that she struggled with finding a balanced color palette, wanting to express the bright vibrance of the city while avoiding an elementary style. She said she hoped that the mural would bring positivity to the area. 

Initially, Larson said her idea was to have the city in the foreground, but that as time passed her idea for the piece changed. The idea to have it appear as if the city is being viewed from across the Long Bridge gave the piece more depth and emphasized Lake Pend Oreille, Larson said. 

"I hope they recognize it as Sandpoint,” Larson said. “I hope the colors, and everything is happy and relates to people and they just think it’s a positive thing.” 

When Larson went to ink her initial sketch on paper, she said she encountered some issues. Mainly that there was no going back if a mistake was made; wanting to get it perfect, she said she ventured into unknown territory for herself. 

"Then I went and bought an iPad, and I am not a computer person at all. It sort of sucks the soul out of me,” Larson said. “I did a couple iterations of that and then I came to this and thought, ‘Okay I think that has everything in it without being too cluttery.’” 

Once the design was ready and approved to go on the wall facing Fifth Avenue, Larson and her husband, Lars, got to work. Maria Larson said that she focused on working on the weekends and early mornings to avoid the traffic from Mr. Sub. 

The mural sprawls across the building, just below the Super Drug sign, which made things a tad difficult once the couple got down to the base brick layer of the building.  

“There is a rustic brick on the bottom that’s been there for, I don’t know how many years,” Larson said. “It was very interesting to draw straight lines over, I’m telling you.” 

Luckily, the couple was graced with enough good weather to push forward, finishing the project last week. Larson credits her husband for helping color the mural and thanked Sandpoint Super Drug for collaboration. 

Larson said the piece was designed to be able to be chopped up and added that she’s hoping to convert it into merchandise like shirts, mugs and more. The mural can be seen from Fifth Avenue on the western wall of Sandpoint Super Drug. 

    A full view of Maria Larson's new mural at Sandpoint Super Drug.