Artist Mary Spellings has finished a Hatchie River mural stretching 100 feet, painted for the Hatchie River Conservancy in Hardeman County, Tennessee. The piece is the widest she has ever attempted, and it is now a bright new sight for people launching boats along the river, according to a profile published Oct. 30 by The Magnolia Post.
Spellings began the project in late September and completed the painting in roughly two weeks, working from a scissor lift beneath a bridge near the boat ramp.
A Hatchie River Mural Inspired by Creation
Spellings told the Magnolia Post her goal was to show the beauty of God’s creation. Rather than one large scene, she painted a series of realistic vignettes and tied them together with a single symbolic line: a winding river that echoes the curves of the Hatchie itself.
That meandering line runs the full 100-foot length of the wall, giving the separate images a sense of flow, much like the river that passes nearby.
Working Against the Clock
The work came with practical challenges. Spellings used acrylic paint, which was exposed to the elements and tended to skim over and thicken in the afternoon, so she found it worked best to paint in the mornings. Her temporary “outdoor studio” was the space under the bridge.
Even so, Spellings said the hardest part of the job was not the painting at all. It was learning to operate the scissor lift she rode up and down the wall to reach each section.
Fifty Years at the Easel
Spellings has been painting for 50 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, and has studied in workshops led by nationally known instructors. The Magnolia Post also produced a short video reveal of the finished mural, shared on its Facebook page.
Highlights of the project:
Size: about 100 feet long, Spellings’ widest mural to date
Commissioned for: the Hatchie River Conservancy
Timeline: started in late September, painted in about two weeks
Theme: realistic scenes of creation linked by a winding, river-like line
Where to see it: under the bridge by the boat ramp, visible to river users
Why the Hatchie Matters Locally
The Hatchie River begins in north Mississippi and flows northwest through Hardeman County and West Tennessee on its way to the Mississippi River. It is one of the few remaining free-flowing rivers in the region and is a designated Tennessee State Scenic River, prized by paddlers, anglers and birdwatchers. The Hatchie River Conservancy is a nonprofit focused on protecting the river and its watershed and on improving public access, including boat ramps and signage.
For families in Middleton and across Hardeman County, as well as Tippah County residents who live near the Hatchie’s Mississippi headwaters, the mural adds a new reason to stop at the river this fall.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
