Santa Maria woman paints murals with a message & faith

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Faith and a vivid visual is all Sandra Graef, from Santa Maria, needs to pick up her paint and brushes.

There's not only meaning behind the main painting, but also the scripture that goes with it.

“Sometimes the scripture will just come to mind through an image," Graef explained. "So I'll be praying and I won't be able to get this image out of my mind and it's actually becomes kind of like an obsession. I'm trying to figure out why.”

The inspiration to start these murals began during the pandemic when everyone had to isolate during lockdown.

Graef started writing scripture on the sidewalks, but the idea of people walking on scripture didn't sit well with her.

She then started using the brick wall next to her home.

With every new inspiration came a new mural for the community of Santa Maria to enjoy.

The one that is currently up is a dancer twirling through water with the Bible verse John 4:14 written on both sides; one in english and another in spanish for the spanish speaking community.

But the deeper message and how she got this inspiration, "“ And so the joy that I feel is like dancing in celebration of what he's done for me. And so, like her dancing, it just gets water everywhere. And that's how the joy of the Lord is for us, that we just," she said. "You don't even have to think about it. You don't have to try. Just you just living out that joy. It just spills over and it just sprinkles all over everyone around you.”

Her next goal in this project, is to be able to connect more with the community.

Set up something that allows community members to share how the mural has impacted them.