 | | Inmate "Charles Nix" stands in front of the mural he is painting in the Fort Bend County Jail's chapel. (Staff photo by Don Munsch)
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| The chapel at Fort Bend County Jail will soon have a mural of biblical imagery.
And it's courtesy of an inmate.
Charles Nix (not his real name) of El Campo, said Thursday he has spent 40 hours thus far on painting the mural, which blends images of stories from the new and old testaments. He started two weeks ago and hopes to be finished in the next couple of weeks. Chapel services have been moved to another room in the meantime.
“It's a timeline - a Christian timeline,” Nix described the mural.
Once completed, the painting will feature images of the Creation, the Flood, Noah's Ark, Moses and the Ten Commandments. An offering altar also will be painted into the mural.
One of the most striking images is that of Jesus Christ returning as the Warrior-Messiah-King from Revelation 19:11.
“I still have about another 40 hours (to go),” Nix said. “It takes about 100 hours total for the whole thing. It's pretty unusual to be painting it with acrylics - it's such a big thing.”
A “privilege” to do it
Nix, 41, attended Alvin Community College and majored in computer science but took an elective class in art.
“I just kind of picked it up from there,” he said.
Nix, who is incarcerated on three drug-related charges, volunteered to do the mural, and Sheriff Milton Wright gave his blessing.
“It's really a privilege to be able to do it,” said Nix, who's in jail on drug charges and a parole vilolation. (His name is an alias.)
He said he appreciates getting a chance to do something that provides self-fulfillment.
“I'm really, really grateful to the sheriff for allowing me to do it,” he said.
Chaplain Alan Hatfield and Nix exchanged ideas on the mural, then Nix got started.
Nix works on his project about six hours a day, four or five days a week. Nix has done murals “everywhere,” he said, including one in Houston on a water tower across from Minute Maid Park.
Maybe more murals to come
While the mural in the chapel has a decidedly religious overtone, Nix said he prefers murals with a western motif.
The opposing wall in the current chapel could also have a mural with New Testament images, Hatfield said. He said he pleased with the way it's turning out, adding that there's been discussion of doing a mural in another part of the jail, such as the grand hall on the first floor.
Terriann Carlson, the sheriff's spokeswoman, said the first mural is being evaluated on a trial and error basis, and after its completion, other murals would be considered for other rooms.
Nix - who also does Web page designs - said he plans to pursuit his craft as a vocation after he's released from jail. He will be released in August.
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