Time Flies

I've been missing painting murals lately. It never felt like work to me. My first job the summer I was to graduate from college was painting murals for the non-profit Community Cultural Arts Organization (CCAO). We had deadlines, sure, but it never felt like we were rushed. It was all very casual. The mural discussed in the articles above was made with the assistance of the CCAO for which Alex Rubio and I worked at the time. This was the same mural where we met little Vincent Valdez for the first time. He was only eleven but he seemed pretty focused on being an artist.

We took the kid's sketches and transferred them to the wall using an opaque projector one early evening in January. Once the painting started we let the kid's paint their section while we filled in the areas around them as well as lend a hand to the kids when needed.

I remember sitting on the scaffolding with Alex and my girlfriend at the time joking and painting. Alex was sitting next to her when he stuck his tongue out at her and she quickly slapped a coat of red paint on it. I've never laughed so hard in all my life and Alex wasn't sure what to do at first. He just sat there with his tongue hanging out.

We finished the mural in about five days and I never expected to see Vincent again but a few months later he would come around to paint a bit with Alex and I as we worked on several paintings of the Virgen de Guadalupe at the San Fernando Cathedral . Seems like only yesterday. Fun easy going times.