How and why am I a Graphic Designer - Story time!

Hi everyone!

Another quarter of the year has passed, blog-less. I'm really going to try and change that habit, and do more creative things that feel good. Writing about my life and current projects is one of those things. 

I want to write about my Day Job today. My J.O.B. My 9-5. If you follow me here and not in real-life, you may just know me as a muralist/art teacher type. But I am also a Graphic Designer. This is the story of how I became one.

Looking back at my life, as soon as I discovered that you could create art in digital spaces as well as traditional analog ones, I was IN TO IT. When I was a kid, I would get on our little box-y black and white mac computer so that I could play Kid Pix, and drag around those digital brushes that would paint different patterns onto a blank canvas. It was so fascinating to me. I was a teenager in high school when I began (wildly... WILDLY) experimenting with Photoshop. I made a fake magazine about the pop-metal and alternative rock bands I was into at the time - complete with multi-page articles and music reviews (written by yours truly) and ads for fake products. All in Photoshop, with roughly 1 MILLION layers (cringe). As an angsty 16 year old, it was my digital masterpiece. In college, I took a few introductory graphic design and pre-press courses where I learned layout softwares like Quark Express and InDesign. I took a digital illustration class which opened my eyes to the complex world of Adobe Illustrator (and the pen tool I dreaded so much) and Corel Painter. It was incredible to me to be able to zoom in 200% and correct such tiny details in a piece of art. It was magic.

Despite all of that early interest, Graphic design was something I came to fairly recently in my life. A few years ago, after growing tired of the less-than-lucrative hustle of freelance and short teaching contracts, I came to Graphic Design in pursuit of a "safety net" during a move to the Big City. I viewed Design as a creative, yet reliable means to support my life and side business as a muralist. It was a practical and deliberate decision, satisfying my Taurus need for some desperately-needed stability. 

Being a Taurus also means I am stubborn, strong-willed and independent. Those traits have been both strengths and weaknesses in my life. Looking back, I think they kept me from pursuing this career as a younger adult. See, my Dad was a Graphic Designer. In college, I didn't even see that path as an option. I wanted to explore a path that was fiercely, uniquely, MINE. I chose my college major quickly, and stuck to it: Illustration with an Emphasis in Animation. I liked the idea of working at a Pixar-type studio, and making character designs and backgrounds (everything BESIDES actually animating, which I soon discovered I did not have the patience or passion for.) After graduating college, I put those plans on hold and joined the Peace Corps.

Peace Corps consumed my life for a good 3+ years. I was only actually living in Madagascar as a Peace Corps Volunteer for a total of 27 months, but a forced evacuation paused my service for 9 months of chilling on my parent's couch. I then went back to complete year 2 of my service. After coming home finally, I found myself reeling mentally and emotionally with the struggle of re-entry to life in the U.S. But I needed cash. Immediately. I went back into food service (sigh). I then worked my way into a sort-of-kind-of-regular job contracting at different K-12 schools, teaching kids art and making murals with them as an Artist-in-Residence, with commissioned mural jobs on the side. I took stock of my career goals and did some deep soul-searching. I reached out to a former professor for advice, and learned I needed to narrow my focus. Trying to keep ALL of the doors open, was preventing me from walking through any of them. I made a pro/con list, and a priority matrix (a tool I learned in Peace Corps. Need to decide something? See p. 43 of this document.) I entered so many interests and options into the matrix: Illustrator, Muralist, Tattoo artist, etc. Graphic Designer? Still not one of them. I decided that being a Muralist was what I really wanted to focus on. That hustle was HARD for me, and I soon realized I could not support myself that way full time, in that size town. So, a move! And then to facilitate that move, a job! What kind of creative job could be so "normal" that I would have it by the time I arrived in the city? Graphic Design finally appeared in a real way. 

I spent a few months refreshing and re-learning design skills and software I hadn't used since college. I watched hours of online tutorials and made myself a little web portfolio. That finally landed me an entry-level design job at a non-profit in Portland. From there I moved into the private sector, and now I've landed in the public sector. Working as an in-house designer has lead me to learn in-depth about industries I never would have otherwise: religious private school, fitness facilities, "green" and "eco" conference and event planning, aviation data sales, and now, criminal justice and community supervision and treatment. I have learned to code a bit, and so many new tools and programs. Graphic Design has lead me places I never would have imagined for myself. And I still have my other love on the side - murals. It's so satisfying to be able to pick up a brush, after days of clicking a mouse. It's the same creative drive - the same language, but a different dialect. 

Now that I'm in my 30's and doing this work, I realize that Design was always something I loved. Like that Taylor Swift song about her unrequited love story. Graphic Design was always there waiting for me, she just needed me to grow up and into myself a little more. Thanks Dad, for the genes. 

My Dad's book of Pantone swatches from the 1970's.
I have it on my desk at work as a reminder of where I came from.

xoxo, Corie

Mount Rainier and Seattle in all it's (neon blacklight-y) glory

Hi everyone!

I recently had the pleasure of trying something I've never tried before, artistically. And I have to say, not only did it turn out pretty ok, I'm sorta obsessed with the process. I got to paint with light. 

I was commissioned by a family friend to paint a not-super-realistic portrayal of Mt. Rainier and the Seattle skyline, surrounded by a whole lot of nature, including a lake. Now, I'm not exactly sure if this is a real view that exists in life somewhere, but it was made clear to me that it wasn't the important part of the project. We cut and pasted different scenes and photos together to create this city/mountain mash-up. 

The painting was commissioned to be the focal point of my client's new home-bar area. So cool! (like the over-achiever version of the bar cart trend) I made a canvas to fit the exact dimensions of his wall space. The client's idea was to have a painting with fairly ambiguous time-of-day lighting, so that he could also commission another buddy to build him an elaborate lighting set up to go along with the painting. From my understanding, the lighting set-up will have different colors/settings/timers so that it can shine light on the painting to make it look like it's going from daylight to sunset, to night time. By the time it's dark, the only light shining on it will be blacklight. So I was asked to make the painting look normal in the daylight, and totally light up under blacklight! 

Coolest commission ever, no? Also a challenge, since I haven't worked with glow-in-the-dark/blacklight paint since I was probably 13. The process was this: I painted the painting as I normally would paint, but also added a ton of neon pigment into my colors as I mixed them. Neon acrylic is most definitely something I already had laying around, (because duh), so that part was nothing new to me. I knew that the neon would light up under the blacklight, so I was strategic about it's placement. After the whole thing was painted and dry, I turned out all the lights in my studio, except a blacklight. Then I painted over everything a bit, with the blacklight paint (I used Golden brand's glow-paint, recommended highly to me by the Art Store Guy). It was such a weird experience to paint in complete darkness. The paint totally lit up on my paper plate palette, and as I brushed it onto the dark canvas. I felt I was painting with pure light. When I turned on the lights, the glow-paint was nearly invisible. SO. COOL. 

This was beyond fun, and my client was beyond cool. I must do more of this magic. Anyone need a painting or mural with a HIDDEN MESSAGE on it?!?!? A love note that only shows up under blacklight? A political statement? A hidden design? Let's play, guys!!!

On the easel

Done! In day light...

Hanging in it's place at the bar!

Under BLACKLIGHT!!!

Owls and Aspens

Hi Everyone! I'm posting about a project on the day I painted it...whaaat? So prompt.

I loved this one. Not only for obvious reasons (got to paint fluffy baby owlets), but for reasons not shown in these pictures. I loved painting this wall because the owner of it was an extraordinarily sweet person with a cute, cute family. When I started painting murals for money about 14 (WHAT?!?) years ago, I only really painted for family friends, or friends of friends. But now that my business has grown, my clients are mostly strangers. And I love when I meet nice strangers and get to connect with their families. Painting inside someone's home means asking a lot of questions about their lives. It means being in their space for hours on end and playing with their children. It sometimes means eating meals in their homes or accepting a bottomless cup of tea. This job allows me to meet people in my city that I would otherwise maybe never get to know. In all these years, I can only remember a couple of instances where my gut was telling me to avoid a Stranger Danger situation, and I did not go through with a mural. The other 99% of my clients have been pretty darn lovely. Anyways, with this one, I just felt very welcomed into this family's home. They even offered to let me and my fiance stay the night when they heard our furnace was broken (fixed now!). More than that, these murals seem to mean a lot to them. I am slowly transforming a dark and dingy basement into a lighter, brighter space for their children to play. They are picking trees, colors, and animals that are significant to their family. The funniest thing was, after all that thought and planning, none of us realized until I was finished that I had painted an owl mom of twins - just like my client and her children. How did we miss that one? 

This is one of 3-4 smaller vignette-type of projects we have planned in their home. Loving the challenge of creating pieces that fade off into their wall, instead of completely covering it. Super fun!

Summer Throw-back Projects

Hi Everyone!

Happy new year!! Happy to be in 2017. 2016 was intense and sad in so many ways for the world. The orlando shooting rocked me pretty hard, as did Prince and Bowie's deaths, as did the election results, and I could go on, but I won't. It's been quite a mess of a year in a lot of ways, and the resulting stress and sadness for the world can get overwhelming. But when I narrow down to my own little life, I must say, 2016 has been overwhelmingly wonderful. The big things are pretty obvious - house + fiance + new day (non mural) job, which I start tomorrow....eeee! Those are some big ol' wonderful changes, and I am extremely grateful for all of them. But again, to jump on the bandwagon, yay 2017. Wishing all of you the best of the best for this coming year.

As I gear up for some wintertime painting, I'm realizing that I still haven't posted about all the Summer/fall painting, so thought I would do a bit of catching up today. Here are a couple I missed:

This first commission was about honoring a loved one who passed away. I won't get into details, but all the elements you see here were chosen specifically to combine into a large piece in memory of someone. It's commissions like this, that are deeply customized and therefore deeply personal and meaningful, that in turn give me the most satisfaction to paint for people. These kinds of commissions are about more than beauty. They are about visually representing a feeling for someone. I hope it brings my client a little bit of peace.

On the technical side of this one, I very much enjoyed the challenge of creating a design on three separate, long panels.  Each panel was a different idea, and needed to stand on it's own, but at the same time, go with the others. Super fun and challenging.

The mural, hung in it's final spot at my client's home. Much better picture quality than the first two!

The second project I failed to post, is a bit more lighthearted. This was a commission for a friend's new baby. Cue the awwwwwwwww for this first pic: Cutest tiny satisfied mini-client!

I'm so happy to have been able to help these sweet new parents settle into their new house. I loved this little Pooh and Piglet scene idea, and the quote that they chose from "The Tao of Pooh." So perfect for a little boo's room. And so much fun to paint! I am always all about painting back-lit leaves. Juicy. YES.

New year's resolution: post these thingies as I go! Yeesh!

My Home is Portland Oregon

You guys. It has been an embarassingly long time since I've posted a blog. It's preeeetty bad.

But a lot has happened over the last couple months! Here's what I've been up to:

Bought a house:

P.s. this is pic is from my instagram which you can follow here: @talkingwallsmurals  #notsosubtleplug

Got engaged:

We look like zombies because we were dancing at the annual Thrill the World event - an event where people all over the world dance simultaneously to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and raise money for charity. Don't worry about it. My fiance knows me well and knows that I could not have been more into having fake blood dripping down my face while he asked me to marry him. Quirky, and so, so perfect for us. I am so happy!! 

So yeah, house projects and wedding planning madness occupies time. But now, I'm going to share a mural with you because that is primarily what this blog is about. I did another Portland-themed mural! This one is in the lobby of an apartment complex in NW Portland. It was super fun! Subject matter that I am super familiar with by now, but it's always fun to come up with fresh ways of doing it. And I actually really really love painting Mt. Hood. It takes my breath away even still, to come around a corner on a clear day and see Hood looking down over our beautiful city.

Also, on a nerdy note, the surface I painted this mural on was unlike any wall I've ever worked on. It was like there was a cloth-like surface treatment over the wall board. Pretty old building, so I'm not sure what it actually was, but it felt like painting on a canvas board. I was so into it. I want that on every wall! Anyway, here are the pics: (Not my best work as a mural-photographer though... there were windows behind me so the light is shining very strangely over the mural. I'll go back at some point to take better ones. But you get the idea.)

 

The Coziest Mural

 Hi Everyone,

 

Sure feels weird to blog about something so fluffy, in light of the recent Orlando shooting tragedy. There's nothing new to say that would fully express my feelings about it. I keep thinking about how important queer spaces are for the exact purpose of having SAFE spaces where people can be themselves. That sense of safety was shattered, on Pride month, no less. It's just plain heartbreaking. I want to just promote this page that is collecting donations for the victim's families, before moving on. Hopefully this mural will bring a little lightness and color to your day, if your heart is hurting too.  

 

I made this mural the weekend before last, in my home town of Eugene. My parents still live there, so it was an added bonus to get to hang out with them while working on this. And sure nice to have a dad to bring me random supplies I forgot, and a mom to bring me a milkshake. Perks of being home for work, I tell you!

 

This mural is in a new yarn shop called "Cozy" that is opening in Eugene, OR. in mid-July, at 285 E. 5th St. The idea is to have all of the furnishings in the shop be in white, while the only pops of color will be the actual yarn on the shelves, and my mural in classroom area in the back of the shop. It's about 30ft. long, so not exactly subtle! We played with the idea at first, of just doing a giant granny square afghan, blown up large-scale across the whole wall. Then, I thought to have just crochet circles on a while background to keep it fresh, modern, and more in tune with the store's look.

 

I was excited about the concept sketches, but I can actually say I was a bit nervous about the actual execution of this one. I didn't know how I was going to tackle it until I was staring down the giant blank wall - no plan. The first circle (far right) was a learning circle, and took awhile. After completing that one, I found a rhythm, and just let it flow out of me. And now I know how to tackle painting crochet work, just in case I ever get asked to do that again, ha! It was fun to have a challenge, and then solve the creative puzzle. Creative puzzles are my favorite.

 

Enjoy! And be nice to each other. 

 

PAINT ALL THE THINGS!!!

 

Hi Everyone!

 

I've been a busy busy mural-painting beee! So much is happening between May and June that I'm feeling like I can barely keep up (while also incredibly grateful for the work...duh.) In Mural-landia, I've started to find that the wintertime, especially after the holidays, business is a little slow. Then Spring comes, and everyone starts to feel re-energized and excited about all things home-improvement. People start to add the color back into their lives! I've got a few business-place murals and a residential in the cue, and I'm super excited to paint all of them. Like, they're really really fun. But I'll tell you about those next time.

 

This post is gonna be way pic-heavy below, so get ready. Everything pictured here, and a few things that aren't, were finished during a recent 9 day trip to San Diego. I was there to paint murals inside a new memory care facility for patients with dementia and Alzheimer's. It's a super rewarding project to be a part of, and when I stop to reflect back on it, the warm and fuzzies start up. My grandma had dementia, and it was super hard to watch her decline. Up until the last couple years of her life, Grandma was an incredibly prolific and talented abstract artist. We were 2 peas in a pod - I thank her for the art-y brain I inherited. I also inherited her nice Golden acrylic paints, and a ton of her brushes. She wrote her name on them with sharpie, and I smile everytime I turn a brush in my hand and find her name there. When I reflect back on all the work I've done at not just that particular memory care facility, but the 2 others I've worked in, along with 2 retirement centers, I feel so happy and proud about being able to provide some joy and maybe ease some of the struggles of the residents who live in them. I know my Grandma would be so happy that I'm using this skill that she passed down to me, to help people who had what she had. Some strange full-circle-ness in the universe, that is.

 

BUT. Holy crap was it exhausting to paint this intensely under the kind of pressure and deadlines I was under for this last facility. Not to mention, trying to schedule and navigate around all the different kinds of workers that come through a construction site! I think I didn't blog about this whole thing until now, just because the whole post would have been like, "I'M. TIRED." Because I sure was. I guess, I've found that my "sweet spot", of getting my most quality mural work done, and staying in a creative zone, lasts about 5 hours. Then I need to eat (before the hangry-s kick in), and just rest my eyes. It really helps so much to do murals in big chunks rather than all in one day, working straight through. I think your brain needs time to catch up to what your hands are doing or something. It just feels like after I sleep between painting sessions, I solve the creative problems in the project overnight in my dreams. It really does work that way. BUT, deadlines are deadlines, and I didn't have that luxury this time. Still happy with what I made though, so maybe it's ok to paint exhausted and delirious. ;) Here's the stuff:

 

 

 

 

 

A Not-Mural for Not-myself

Hi everyone!

There are some commissions and projects that exemplify the reason I am fulfilled by being a commercial artist – an artist that makes work according to other people’s visions instead of their own, in exchange for said other person's money.

 To back track, obviously, I do very much enjoy making my own work that is not for pay. Making my own work satisfies a deep wanting to see in real life, what I see in my head. Or, it satisfies the need to explain something, or tell a story about my life - to be understood through the pictures I make. Last year, I took 3 months off from taking on freelance work of any kind, in order to finish a series of paintings commissioned by none other than my very own heart. I painted a 10+ piece series about my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar. Making and showing those paintings allowed me to #1 express and release feelings I was holding onto, and #2, to explain the stories to other people. It was wonderful and I wish I could find the time and motivation to do more art for myself in between my day job and freelancing. But I also take a lot of pleasure in creating works for other people, and the painting below is why.

Because sometimes someone you know comes to you wanting to turn something sorta sad and dark into something empowering and uplifting and the way they want to do that is through your art – through your hands. I’m not going to go into her story, but my client/friend went through a hard thing, came out of if, and wanted to have a physical and symbolic reminder to look at every day. She wanted something to remind her that she is strong, and can be strong when different hard things happen later. She likes the ocean, warm colors, and the sunshine. She was so happy when I showed her the finished painting. Sometimes, I feel like I blow off people’s reactions to my art. While I appreciate the “that’s pretty!” I shrug it off more often than I take it in. But when she told me it was perfect and I could see how happy it was going to make her to have the painting, I felt it, for real. While I rarely stop to think about it, I know it is a gift to be able to paint things. It is more of a gift to be able to make people feel good, by painting things for them. And not just "good", but more specifically sometimes it's: closure, release, joy, calm, freedom - validation of the stories in my client's lives. Throughout my years making murals and commissions, I’ve occasionally painted things I deem “ridiculous.” When I take more time to think about it, I know that they are asking for the ridiculous thing because it will mean something to them. It’s about their happiness, not mine. But then also my happiness, by default, in creating theirs. For that, I’m going to practice being more aware, grateful, and honored.

Corie