On a hot July afternoon, Valerie Trimarchi stands over a 4-by-8-foot sheet of wood, paintbrush in hand. Three more planks of wood sit around her home studio—one balances on the sink, another on the sofa, and one more on a table. Across these boards, soft brushstrokes of aqua and forest green begin to form the South Pasadena skyline. With school starting in August, two Italian houseguests to look after, and a heatwave bearing down, Ms. Trimarchi is worried. Will she finish her mural in time for the Trader Joe’s grand opening in October?

        Lower School Art teacher Ms. Valerie Trimarchi spent her summer working on a mural for the new South Pasadena Trader Joe’s, which opened on October 21st. Her husband, Blue Trimarchi, manages the South Pasadena Arts Council and submitted her work along with 24 other artists’ work for the opportunity to paint a mural in the new store. Ms. Trimarchi was one of six artists to be selected. When she learned that she was chosen for the project, she was overjoyed. “[Trader Joe’s is] a very special place to me…it was a huge honor,” Ms. Trimarchi said. 

The painting of the mural began amid the construction of the new Trader Joe’s, allowing Ms. Trimarchi only until 5 p.m. to work in the store each day—a restriction she found challenging. “I like slow art,” she explained. Ms. Trimarchi wanted the option to work until midnight, so she pivoted and found a solution to bring the mural home with her. By painting on four wood boards, she was able to transport the art back home and spend as much time on the piece as she liked. The wood ended up bringing a new opportunity to the piece: three-dimensionality. On separate planks of wood, Ms. Trimarchi highlighted iconic South Pasadena imagery such as the Trader Joe’s sign, Los Angeles’ famous parrots, and the South Pasadena Water  Tower. Drawing from the landscape of South Pasadena, she included rolling mountains, sparkling rivers, and jagged cacti.

David Hockney, Vincent van Gogh, and other colorful, post-impressionist artists influenced Ms. Trimarchi’s striking piece. She aimed to “go crazy with color,” using bright, vivid colors to accentuate the mural’s detail and complexity. The bold hues catch the eye, drawing viewers into a vibrant representation of South Pasadena with clear blue skies, fluffy clouds, and neon green parrots.

The end result does not reveal the hardships Ms. Trimarchi faced behind the scenes. Translating her sketch into a mural, filling with hundreds of tiny details, and making it the length of an entire wall was extremely difficult for Ms. Trimarchi. “Midway through, I was kind of losing it, like, I’m never gonna finish this,” she said. The chaos of Ms. Trimarchi’s summer and the beginning of the school year only added to her stress.

The mural wasn’t just another project for Ms. Trimarchi. She felt pressured to produce the best work that she could for Trader Joe’s, a store which has held a special place in her heart since childhood. Her grandfather shopped at the original Trader Joe’s in Pasadena in the 1960s. Many fond memories with him include eating dark chocolate bars he bought from Trader Joe’s—which she still keeps a stash of in her classroom to this day. Ms. Trimarchi felt as though she could not disappoint the place that had followed her throughout her life. “This has to be good. I can’t fail…It’s Trader Joe’s,” she said.

Although much of Ms. Trimarchi’s painting was completed alone in her home studio, she highlighted the other artists featured in the store. She was in awe of their murals and enjoyed the kindness of everyone she worked with, saying, “[Trader Joe’s] was just a really happy place to be.”