By Crissy Pascual

How did you become an artist, and why murals?

I come from a family of artists. My mom was an artist and I sat by the drawing board when I was three months old as she would sketch. Both my parents were toy designers so I was constantly surrounded by design. I definitely had an inherent artistic drive as a kid. I would find myself drawing on the side of homework or a school project and I would always get reprimanded for drawing instead of doing math or English.

It was something I couldn't stop doing. I would paint all the time, and eventually I got a few opportunities to be able to paint for free on a few walls. And that turned into a meeting with a creative director, and a snowball effect. Then I realized – this could be something that I do for the rest of my life. 

I think that the greatest part about murals is that you create an impact where people can see the art everyday and people come up to the wall and interact with it, and you can really see the impact the art makes. Spread art for everybody! 

What’s your process?

I like to be able to embed a lot of locality, history, and iconography into the murals that I paint. In this case (pointing to the Petaluma High School auto shop wall he is working on), Keith Benson (auto and metal shop teacher) approached me and said they really want something that highlights the trades here at PHS. So I’ll collect these images and put them together and see how the composition is going to fit. I’ll scan the internet for hours and compile a composite. It’s like putting together a puzzle piece. And usually after 10, 20, 30 hours, I’ve come up with a really good concept. And it gets a lot more painterly when I am actually on the wall.

And there’s a viewpoint to every mural. Like, is this going to be seen from half a mile away? Is it going to be seen up close? So it’s about finding that sweet spot. Sometimes you create a concept but it doesn’t always line up. So you have to improvise and pull back detail or add more detail. 

Another reason I love mural painting is because I’m not sitting at a desk. I’m moving my body. I’m climbing up on ladders. I get to move my arms all around. 

What’s your inspiration?

I think I’m inherently inspired to create. It’s like drinking coffee in the morning or falling asleep at night. I feel like I have to do it. I’m definitely inspired by a lot of different things but mainly, just a drive to paint. I just like to paint. 

There’s just so many artists that I really love, and even some friends’ artwork. I find inspiration in artists. I idolize a lot of artists. 

What’s your dream project?

My dream is to paint a skyscraper that’s 20 stories tall in a major city and have it be seen all over the city. I would do it for free! Honestly, I would. I just really want to do it. I’m constantly envisioning murals on different walls and buildings. 

What is something that people don’t know about you?

There used to be this abandoned house near Clover. Growing up, we called it Burnt House. A lot of friends I had at the time were into tagging. They liked to do different letters or names. But I was so focused on trying to create an actual piece of art, I didn’t realize that the cops showed up. They all ran but I was so into it. So they arrested me and they gave me 20 hours of community service. That was one of the few times I was tagging but I got caught. I got arrested for spray painting and creating art and now I am tagging legally on walls.

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.