Art-friendly Lawrence is getting another mural.

Tom and Linda Cottin, who own Cottin’s Hardware and Rental, 1832 Mass., have commissioned Lawrence artists Missy McCoy and Ardys Ramberg to reproduce Ramberg’s pastel painting “In Good Standing Amidst the Powers That Be,” on the south side of their store.

Ardys Ramberg, Lawrence, works on a mural at Cottin's Hardware and Rental, 1832 Mass. The mural represents the elm tree near the Borders bookstore, 700 N.H.; Ramberg is partly responsible for saving the old elm from its destruction. Lawrence artist Missy McCoy, not pictured, was also commissioned by the Cottins to create the mural.

The painting depicts the large elm tree near Eighth and New Hampshire streets resisting the forces of earth, wind, fire and water.

“In many cultures those earth, wind, fire and water are seen as the four great powers,” Ramberg said.

A photograph of the painting appeared in the Journal-World last year, after Ramberg was named featured artist of the 2001 Lawrence Art Auction.

“From the day we got here, we thought that wall was perfect for a mural,” Tom Cottin said. “And ever since then, we’ve been looking for the right idea.

“But when I saw that picture in the paper, I didn’t have to think twice. I said, ‘That needs to be a mural.'”

Cottin said he and his wife commissioned the mural because “we’re a neighborhood store, and we thought this would add to the neighborhood.”

The Cottins bought the hardware store from Bob and Barbara Zimmerman in 1992. The Zimmermans had owned the store for 46 years.

Cottin said he wasn’t bothered by the tree being the subject of recent protests of now-canceled plans to cut it down.

“We just like the way it looks,” Cottin said. “It makes us feel good.”

Ramberg and McCoy began working on the mural April 17. They expect to finish in late May.

“It’s going to be a neat mural,” McCoy said Monday. “One of the interesting challenges is that we’re trying to reproduce the original, a pastel, with paint. So it’s how do we get this to look like a swipe of chalk rather than a brush stroke.”

So far, most passersby seem to appreciate the work in progress.

“Those who stop and talk say they like it,” Ramberg said. “Those who aren’t sure don’t say anything. But it’s really going to be a cool mural.”