Painter Douglas Rouse is ending his year on a high — atop a scaffold, in fact.

His third mural of 2011, a 25 by 70 foot work for the lobby of the Space Foundation’s new home, is nearly done.

“By Tuesday,” he said firmly. “It’s been a really good, full year, and I’m ready for a vacation.”

When the foundation moved into its 47,000-square-foot building at 4425 Arrowswest Drive in July, it clearly needed work. General painting, new floors, an elevator and … well, art, said Carol Hively, spokesperson for the group, which promotes and nurtures space travel as well as the science and technology that make it possible.

“The mural itself is part of the process of settling in and making the building reflect who we are and what we do,” she said.

The foundation gave Rouse freedom to decide the particulars of the space imagery. Rouse did extensive research on space ships, suits and space itself. Accuracy was important.

The final work puts the viewer inside the spaceship, looking out. An astronaut looms near one window and in the distance, ships go about their business.

“It’s really a collage of cool imagery,” said Rouse. “When I watch movies, I’m looking at backgrounds all the time and how they paint stuff. I’ve worked on sets before and I know how fun it is to trick people into thinking something is there that’s not.”

The Space Foundation knew his work, it turns out.

“We needed someone who could do research to create a nice space mural,” Hively explained, “but also familiar with the preparation of working with something this large.

“He was working up high and in tight corners,” she said. “At one point, the lift wouldn’t fit into a corner and he was balanced on a ladder extension, balanced on one leg and reaching. It was pretty daunting from below.”

Ask Rouse about the challenges of this piece and he doesn’t say anything about that. After working outdoors on the last two murals, indoors was quite a treat.

In addition to commissioned work like this, Rouse created the “12 Mural Project” early this year. Its purpose is to create more outdoor public art and to involve volunteers in its making. A 10,000 square foot work on the Warehouse Restaurant, was completed this fall.

“This was easy compared to that,” he said, laughing.

Artist Douglas Rouse works on the final stages of a mural Friday, Dec. 16, in the lobby of the Space Foundation’s new headquaters at 4425 Arrowswest Drive. Rouse, 45, has spent four weeks painting the more than 1,700 square-foot mural as part of the foundation’s renovations of its new headquarters acquired in July. Photo by Mike Christy, The Gazette