MURAL at The Springs in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
I received a DM in my instagram from Suzanne Scott a few weeks ago asking me if I might be interested in painting a mural. I never painted a mural before, and while the thought was super intimidating I forced myself to say yes and act all cool about it.
Suzanne is an artist who I have respected and admired from afar. We connected years ago through a gallery show at La Bodega Studios run by my friend Miguel Ayuso, where I saw her work for the first time in person. I found out that she had completed an artist residency at Chateau Orquevaux several years before my own acceptance and she generously shared her experiences with me. When she reached out to me I was super stoked to have an opportunity to do a project with her and her boyfriend Kristopher. Yes was the only way to answer.
My husband Zhenya and I met Suzanne, Kristopher who owns Hiatus Tequila and sponsored the mural, Irene who owns The Springs, and Irene’s dog Jenny, in front of the prepped white wall in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We discussed ideas and timeline for the mural. Zhenya, Kristopher, Suzanne and I concluded our meeting with an appropriate drink of Hiatus Tequila, which by the way I highly recommend (not paid to say so). We decided the mural would be painted within three weeks.
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The day before the mural I painted a hoodie for myself as a warm up exercise, it came out super cool. My friends and family have Buzzy pieces, this is the first one I made for myself. You can see it in the photo on the cover of the Brooklyn Paper and in the photo of me sitting in the back of The Springs with a Hiatus hat on, sipping their tequila.
The mural took 8 hours from start to finish and Suzanne, Kristopher and their beagle mix LOU LOU, Zhenya and a passing friend Filka supported me the entire day. I met people from the neighborhood and had a lot of thankfully positive feedback. Brooklyn really is dope.
I am proud of the work that I put into it and how it turned out, it even landed a cover story on the Brooklyn Paper!! with a very thoughtful article written by Melissa Fishman.
The mural project was an epic experience and it was a very good day. I look forward to whatever the next project will be- kinda hope it's a little scary like this one was.