Local burger joint and outdoor music venue, LSA Burger Co, recently held their second annual live mural painting event. The event sees local artists painting new artwork over spaces on the widely-seen wall space of the second story outdoor patio of the popular restaurant. This year, LSA added pieces from Dan Black, Matthew Long, Zarina Kay, Gracie Piper, Malcolm Byers, Melanie Little Gomez, and Des Smith. We spoke with a few of them about their artwork and the process in general. You can read more at People of Denton or check out the artwork for yourself over at LSA. Let us know your favorite piece in the comments!
Zarina Kay
“I wanted to do something that related to kids, adults, and everyone in between, because I think everyone loves space and the mystery of it. To paint something this large, like our neighboring galaxy, I just had to do it. It was an aha moment, because people love to stare off into space, the mix of colors, it was a really good opportunity content-wise. The trickiest part was learning how to layer these colors properly to make sense when you’re looking at it from far away, but once I figured that out I just blew through it.”
Gracie Piper
“This is what I’ve been painting a lot lately, these kind of loose drawings, continuous line portraits. It’s my first mural, so the scale it much larger than I’m used to, also it’s a different medium for me, I usually paint with watercolors, and painting in an open environment is different for me, with everyone watching, but I actually enjoyed it!”
Malcolm Byers
“I always paint faces, portraits are kinda my thing, but all the murals here now and last years are really colorful, so I didn’t want to do a plain face and I added in these blocks of colors and I think it really worked out. It was all with spray paint, and takes a lot of tiny sprays. The hardest part was the cropping of the squares. I totally abandoned my sketch and just freestyled it, especially the placement of colors, making it up as I went.”
Melanie Little Gomez & Des Smith
“We were looking for inspiration on the Square, and noticed the historic organizations, like IOOF over there. While we were thinking of that theme was the week of the Paris Climate Agreement shattered. We decided to make a comment in a way without being too preachy, and still have something to say, and make a painting that hopefully is funny and interesting and you can find out more about. It’s based on guild paintings from the 18th century Dutch, particularly the sub-category of regent paintings. And instead of IOOF, it’s the International Order of Endangered Species, because each one of these animals is endangered. There’s 4,000 of the one on the right, 5,000 of the one on the left, and single digits of the carnivorous plant in the middle. It’s called the Guild of Endangered Species.”
All of the above murals and more can be seen right now at LSA Burger Co at 113 W Hickory St. in downtown Denton, TX.
You can find more artwork from the event (along with plenty of other great interviews with interesting Dentonites) at PeopleofDenton.com.