Stroke by stroke, progress is made. 

Cassandra Ott began her first piece of public art last Wednesday on Elmwood Avenue, on the side of Revolver Records.

The mural is in celebration of 25 years of both the Elmwood Village Association and Garden Walk Buffalo.

Ott had just a week and a half to transform the blank wall and, along the way, dealt with the hottest days of the summer. 

"I'm here with Silas, my super trusty awesome assistant, and I'm going to be working on the mural,” she said. “This is how far we've come. So far, it's supposed to be crazy hot and humid, so I don't know how much time I will spend here," said Ott.

Despite the heat, she continued her work to meet her deadline. 

"I have a new appreciation for people who work outside all of the time," she said.

But working outside also meant many witnessed the daily transformation and expressed their appreciation.

The bold, colorful flowers seem to blend right in to the Elmwood Village, but even on the coldest of days, Ott hopes the wall of flowers will brighten someone's day.

"It's lovely now with the bright blue skies but I feel like I'm also excited that it's going to live on when there's 10 feet of snow," she said.

As someone that shared the mural’s progress on social media, now that it's complete, Ott's looking forward to how others capture her work.  

"Family photos or whatever people will do, smiling happy selfies," she said.

Ott said after stepping out of her comfort zone to complete her first mural, she would love to do another in the future.

But for now, she wants to let the community enjoy this.