Waltham DCF building is the location of a new mural highlighting local wildlife

The rear exterior wall of Waltham’s Department of Children and Families office at 157 Overland Road is Boston-based muralist Sophy Tuttle’s latest canvas.

The 65-by-200-foot mural faces a heavily wooded portion of the Mass Central Rail Trail and features a variety of plant and animal species native to Massachusetts.

Species, Tuttle said, she doesn’t usually see represented in mural work.

A bobcat, long-tailed weasel, string of fox grapes and irises are a few of the designs coming to life.

“These flowers I found on a neighborhood walk and the irises are something you’d see growing along the Charles River,” Tuttle said.

In partnership with Beyond Walls, a nonprofit organization that collaborates with communities and artists to create public art, Al Wilson, the organization’s founder and CEO, connected the building’s owner to Tuttle to discuss the vision for the piece.

“It abuts this running and walking trail and he [the building owner] wanted to evoke the nature that is here and have people see that reflected on the wall,” Wilson said.

The nonprofit has collaborated with Tuttle in the past to create large-scale public art pieces across the state.

Her work, Wilson said, was perfect for the project.

“We were able to really showcase Sophy’s whole portfolio, it’s full of nature and the right fit for this piece,” he said.

Tuttle first learned to mural paint while living in Oaxaca, Mexico, and has now worked full-time as a muralist for almost six years.

After sketching the design on digital art software, Tuttle used a doodle grid technique, filling the space with one-foot-by-one-foot doodles to help map out her design without having to physically measure.

The doodles are random and are fully covered by the completed design.

“I like to challenge myself to come up with as many different symbols because once you’re up on the wall if there’s a heart shape right here and a heart shape right here, you might confuse the two,” said Tuttle.

Alex Ferror, a spray artist, muralist and illustrator based in Atlanta, assisted Tuttle, helping to fill in the large, less detailed portions of the piece.

To pass the time, eight-hour days on a lift, she listens to music and podcasts that inspire her.

“This morning I listened to a podcast about how being in nature is really good for your attention span, your memory and your blood pressure,” Tuttle said. “It was so validating, it was like ‘that’s what I’m doing right now’, I’m helping people.”

With two weeks of work so far, Tuttle hopes to complete the mural on Oct. 13.