By K. Richard Douglas
Healthcare was looking to add a mural to its campus.
Back in 2022, when UNC Rex Healthcare decided it wanted to feature a mural on one wall of the hospital, decision-makers pondered locating a local artist.
The Raleigh, North Carolina hospital wanted to cheer up an outdoor courtyard and a challenge was put out to employees to submit ideas for a mural. This would not be a small mural, but a large mural that covered an entire wall.
One of those employees who submitted a mural idea was biomed Jauslyn Stewart, who has worked for the hospital for the past 19 years. Stewart’s idea won the challenge.
Ironically, Stewart not only submitted the winning idea, but the hospital did not have to spend time looking for an artist to paint it, because Stewart was more than capable of handling that task also.
Not only did it seem to be fate that Stewart got the call to put brush to wall, but it seemed to be fate that she became a biomed. Her first hospital job was as a housekeeper.
“People I admire worked for some companies for years and accumulated benefits. I knew I would like to be an artist for life, but did not know what else I’d like to do. I applied for a hospital knowing there are many jobs. I just needed to get my foot in the door and see what other job may interest me firsthand. Housekeeping called me back first,” Stewart says.
She says that as a housekeeper, she got a chance to see and meet many people and talk to them about their jobs.
“I started thinking I’d like to be a doctor. I like school and don’t mind going. But the internship and demanding schedule were things I certainly was not interested in. Then I thought, maybe nursing, but still, there’s on-call hours. I do not want to be tethered to my job,” Stewart says.
She says that she wanted to enjoy what she did and retain a work/life/art balance.
“When I met Susan Trombley, and talked to her about her experience in the tech field working on IT and medical equipment, that sounded like something I would like to do since I love using my hands to be creative,” Stewart says.
Stewart explained to Trombley that she was already self-taught on car and home repairs.
“She was impressed because I was not hesitant to try and figure out how to get from point A to point B and she suggested I think about biomed. I started to talk to other biomed staff and felt at home with people with a similar interest. I enrolled in ECPI for my electrical engineer technician degree and Durham Tech for my degree in biomed,” Stewart says.
She says that having a job that asks her to take things apart and put back together is fun.
“It’s like working in Disneyland. I also get paid to learn. I was sent to GE training to get certified on some GE equipment,” Stewart adds.
A True Artist
While biomed was a later endeavor, Stewart’s enjoyment of art goes way back.
“My mom told me I had an eye for art since I was a toddler. She said I would see images of things like facial profiles in prints that others would look and say ‘I don’t see that; where is it?’ My dad is a self-taught artist and I remember sitting with him watching Bob Ross paint on TV. He gave me a watercolor paint kit for kids, and when I tried to create a piece, I was so confused about why my painting did not look like Bob’s on TV,” Stewart says.
The attraction to painting continued in high school.
“I was attending advance placement classes and went on to attain an associates in art. I also sculpt, create clay pottery and sew. I created my veil for my wedding; each lace applique was cut and applied by yours truly. I was blessed with supportive family, who are proud of my work and some pieces I made for them are still in my mom’s office and their house until this very day. Seeing my childhood work is a testament as to how far I have come. I can sit for hours in one place doing art,” Stewart says.
Before painting the hospital mural, Stewart had some previous experience with that format.
“My first mural was on a wall panel for my Leesville High School. I was part of a team that covered the walls in the cafeterias. The second was years later. I was asked to paint a mural of dinosaurs and landscape in a playroom of a private home. This was very interesting to create for a child. [I] talked to him and asked him which dinosaurs he would like and then I had to please my youngest client who would certainly not hesitate to tell me the truth. I loved painting for him,” Stewart says.
She submitted three ideas for the UNC Rex mural.
“The one that was chosen was ‘North Carolina from the Mountain to the Coast’ and UNC Rex commissioned me to apply paint to wall and I shared with my family that I am now being paid to apply art to a blank wall,” Stewart says.
There are specific challenges to painting a mural-size piece of art.
“Generally speaking, the size of the canvas or wall controls the sizes and placements of the different components of the piece I am working on. When creating a piece on canvas, I know it will most likely be seen head on and at a distance of 5 to 10 feet away. A mural is based on the space it is in. The one for UNC Rex is in a courtyard. It needed to look good from the ground and from the second-floor windows. Both have a different perspective of the same thing. I had to go to the second floor to look at it as I was working on it. To see how others would see it,” Stewart says.
Another challenge was Stewart’s fear of heights. Portions of the mural required getting onto scaffolding.
“Yes, I was not happy about being so high up. But as I was working on the piece it was clear to me that I needed to go higher to achieve the vision. The tree needed to be higher to fit correctly in the mural. I had to work up every nerve I had, use controlled breathing and I refused to allow fear to prevent me from completing the piece,” Stewart says.
She says that she truly feels that fear is just a lack of understanding and false evidence appearing real.
“I did do some research on scaffolding and how to use it. Once I was on top, I refused to look down and come down until I was done because once down, I had no plans on getting back up to the top again. One and done,” she adds.
The finished mural features scenes from North Carolina, from the pristine beaches to nature in the Piedmont in the middle of the state to the mountain blooms in the Appalachian Mountains.
Some biomeds have hidden talents, but everyone at UNC Rex hospital knows a very real talent that one of their HTM staff has had for a lifetime.
