ST. GEORGE — The Beach at Sand Hollow rental shop has a new attraction – a 264-square-foot mural featuring the shop’s owner and her dog, and Sand Hollow’s trademark characteristics of sun, surf and sand.
The mural was painted by local artist Becca Lyman, who works as a customer service representative at the rental shop. She began work on the mural Sept. 21, and put the finishing touches on it Dec. 2, putting in 4-10 hours of work every week.
“It’s been an incredible experience working on that mural. Before that, the biggest I had painted was an 8-by-4-foot painting,” Lyman said.
The rental shop, located at Sand Hollow State Park, offers boat, ATV and vacation home rentals, tours, and a surf and sandwich shop. The mural is on the interior wall in the back of the shop to help draw customers to the retail section of the store.
It was designed to be a social media wall, providing people with a picture wall to take photos in front of to post on social media using #thebeachatsandhollow to help promote the store. The shop will soon add the hashtag to the mural as well as an artist statement from Lyman about the mural and the tours they offer.
Even with cooler temperatures, the Beach at Sand Hollow is offering two hour guided tours of the area as well as ATV and side by side vehicle rentals to take out on the sand dunes.Water sport rentals are more limited this time of year, but bass boats, pontoons, kayaks and canoes are still available for fishing or recreation.
“The water may be cold but it’s still a really nice little paddle out there,” Lyman said.
Lyman designed the mural to encompass Sand Hollow’s main attractions, including a view of the Pine Valley Mountains and the park’s sand dunes.
Shop owner Ashley Moser is featured on a paddleboard with her dog Coco, along with manager Rylee Kent and Moser’s friend and previous employee Kynderlyne Bell who are shown driving a yellow side-by-side ATV down the sand dunes.
Plants and cacti found in the area are included in the mural along with a yellow Sun Bum brand umbrella shading a pineapple and sets of footprints and paw prints from a bright yellow sun.
“The overall painting was pretty much just inspired by my love for the area,” Lyman said. “Moving back kind of blew me away because when I was living here before I didn’t really appreciate the landscape. … I just love the area and I’m really happy to be back here and I wanted to convey that in the painting itself.”
Lyman grew up in Southern Utah and first discovered a love for painting her junior year at Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts in Ivins. After graduation she moved to Portland, Oregon, to study art at Mount Hood Community College.
“That’s where I felt like I really found my passion, where I really came to blossom and how I was able to cope with certain tragedies that happened throughout life,” Lyman said.
“Everybody supporting me so much and loving my art so much has really given me the confidence and the need to keep pursuing it. It pretty much became my life for the past almost 10 years.”
Lyman was excited and nervous when Moser first came to her with the idea. She had done some work around the shop, like painting ice cream cones on the kitchen counter and holiday designs on the windows, but she had never painted such a large surface.
“After looking at the wall and taking the measurements I was like, ‘Wow, this thing is a beast,’ and then I conquered it and I could not be more proud of myself,” Lyman said.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
A photo of the finished cactus on a new mural at The Beach at Sand Hollow, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Becca Lyman, St. George News The Beach at Sand Hollow's new mural in progress, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Becca Lyman, St. George News Rylee Kent and Kynderlyne Bell pictured riding a UTV on a new mural at The Beach at Sand Hollow, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Becca Lyman, St. George News Becca Lyman with her finished mural at The Beach at Sand Hollow, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Becca Lyman, St. George News Becca Lyman with her finished mural at The Beach at Sand Hollow, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Becca Lyman, St. George News Coco pictured on a new mural at The Beach at Sand Hollow, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Becca Lyman, St. George News Coco looks at herself painted on a new mural at The Beach at Sand Hollow, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Becca Lyman, St. George News Photos taped to the wall during the painting process of a new mural at The Beach at Sand Hollow, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Becca Lyman, St. George News
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