This couple dedicated a giant grass mural to Kobe Bryant with a mower and GPS

We may never know our favorite celebrities or athletes personally, but our love for them transcends certain boundaries simply because of how much they inspire or motivate us. When a couple from California learned of basketball legend Kobe Bryant's death, they were so deeply moved and wanted to figure out a way to give him the send-off he deserved. So they put their thinking caps on and came up with an ingenious way to do his legacy justice: a giant grass mural. The techie couple thus got a lawnmower and GPS to create a huge mural of the unparalleled Los Angeles Lakers player at a park, 7 News Miami reports.

Kelli Pearson and her husband Pete Davis used their proprietary Turfprinter technology from their company New Ground Technology to create the beautiful mural that can only be seen from the sky. The mural, printed in a grass field at a park in Pleasanto, California, measures about 115-foot tall and 92-foot wide. Before it was created in the grass, Pearson stitched a black and white image together using several different images of the athlete. She explained, "The face was from two different photos, the neck was from a different photo and the body was from a different photo. It ends up creating an artwork piece. I tried to capture him, the likeness of him smiling and as an athlete."

Then, the couple uploaded the image onto a machine that resembles a lawnmower. In order to "print" the image out, Davis had to move the machine around the grass field. Davis explained that the machine blows air to gently bend the grass away or toward you to generate the dark and light contrast in the grass with the help of GPS and digital processing. While all of this sounds very technical, the decision to create the mural was entirely natural to the couple. They are big fans of Kobe and wanted to honor his memory in the best way possible. To them, his death felt personal. "This tragedy came as a huge surprise. He was an amazing person, an amazing family man, and an amazing athlete," Pearson shared. "Fortunately, we have this technology that allows us to do this huge tribute."

The mural, the couple explained, will last about two days before the grass returns to its original position. However, the husband and wife duo hopes that the mural has a lasting impact on the community. Davis stated, "For me, it’s a community effort. You feel helpless and there’s really nothing more you can do in the situation. But in our space, I did it to represent our community and let the community be a part of this closure." For many, Bryant was an icon of success, hope, and achievement. While the whole country is in mourning, Californians are especially affected. Efforts such as those of Davis and Pearson's are helping their communities cope and heal.