2021 Recap

My Top Songs 2021
Spotify Playlist
Spotify

Opening the year in Myrtle Beach, within the arms of my pen-pal of three years, plus receiving a five thousand dollar artist grant, felt incredibly surreal. 2020 gave me the time for the creative liberation I yearned for after grad school, while 2021 truly bestowed incredible delights in my life that have me speechless as I reminisce tonight.

Goals Break Down

Expand My Brand

The universe really surprised me with this one. I was thinking of expanding as in continuing a series. However, that quickly turned into more significant projects - 3 FRIGGIN MURALS!

This mural went from a joke to reality within 72 hours. It's something I've always aspired to create but didn't think the opportunity would arise, let alone actually present itself. So when the conversation shifted to the materials needed to get the job done, I knew we had reached the point of no return—deciding to happily leap into it this and figure things out along the way, instead of planning everything out, may have shifted my method of art-making for the better.

The Breakdown:

I am not a painter - in the traditional sense. I have no proper training with paint; therefore, my comprehension of brushstrokes and manipulating them is minimal. I understand how forgiving paint can be, particularly when used in layers. However, I do not use it for its forgiveness but more so for its opacity and adhesiveness. Very similar to sign painters. (I wish I were as fluent as them, though.)

With that said, my nerves were through the roof when my first brushstroke kissed the wall. Three days later and I finished where I started, signing my name next to my very erect penis surrounded by so many others who appreciate and believe in my work. Maybe even more than I do. But after it was said and done and I was home in bed, a blissful epiphany moment hit me about future endeavors. I was on cloud nine as I dozed off.

The Title:

Happy to See You came about while rushing to write the official press release Friday morning. Of course, I wanted an erection innuendo, but I also wanted it to have the same allure as Haring's Once Upon a Time which was inspired by gay sex and liberation before the AIDS epidemic of the 80s.

The Process:

Process Video

After getting over not being traditionally trained to handle something like this, I started to be more in the moment and savor how I put myself in this situation - of persistently living my PopArt life and creatively documenting it to the best of my ability.

It felt appropriate to document it in quick time-lapses cause of the scale of the mural. Setup day took about six hours to stencil on three walls and finish painting half of one—about nine hours for day two of just painting the remaining walls. And day three was stenciling and painting the ceiling for about seven hours.

I was under the impression that the ceiling would be the most difficult, but it turned out to be the easiest. My arms got more of a break than I thought because of having to reapply paint to my brush. The most difficult was for sure configuring how to apply consistent pressure against the ridges of the walls. After a while, I got the hang of it, but the lines aren't nearly as clean as I'd prefer. That was the most challenging thing to accept, that my lines wouldn't be precisely the same as my 2D work. I had to remind myself this is an extension of it. Overall, I am so proud of myself for not backing down, especially initially, for I often stray from 3D projects. I don't regret a second of it.

Official Press Release:
"I wish I loved anything as much as that guy loves dick."
-Friend of a friend

DePaul Vera's Happy to See You; Bathroom Mural is a compilation of submitted dick pics showcasing all girths and lengths that will leave you gagging. Commissioned by Hotel Gaythering, this piece is a stripped-down version of Vera's flamboyantly colorful Dickmark series. This mural focuses solely on linework variety and creates an immersive environment where everyone instantly becomes a bukkake pornstar.

Inspired by Keith Haring's Once Upon a Time, 1989

The idea came at the tail end of a creative slump where I was beginning to feel inspired again, but it wasn't quite there, and even my clients knew that. So, they gave me two prompts.

Prompt 1: Relaxation Wall

We'd love to see an alternative sketch from you that is less about arches and more you. What do we mean by this? What would make you smile to see, walking into a room in the morning? What would a DePaul Vera living room wall look like? If a living room wall had the medical power of taking a Xanax (or another relaxing drug of your choice), what would that look like?

Prompt 2: Scaled Up Joy

What would be fun to see scaled up across two walls in an apartment? Can we see something in the vein of one of your "Analog Collages" (from your website)? What would those colors and shapes look like scaled up on those walls? What would a composition look like if it just ignored corners of walls, window frames, other architectural features and treated everything as if it had been projected there?

My clients don't know this - but I'll definitely include it in their thank you card - their suggested creative prompts really ignited a burning desire of mine (and I hope all artists) to see our work at its very best. And it's because of their willingness to allow me that room to envision my work more acceptingly; only then was I able to create things that felt genuinely like me. And they approved this, only seeing a snippet of a preview of what it could possibly look like - I didn't even have the entire composition mapped out, and they still decided yes! "Well, we just knew we wanted something that we absolutely could not get anywhere else but was also true to your work as an artist," Scott says cheeringly.

Let's talk about the chosen color.

So awhile back, while my friends were smoking me out, I came across a book on their floor. Sebastian said he was getting rid of em and to grab whatever I wanted. Me, instinctively reaching for the book about color, he quickly shouts, "Not that one." I picked it up anyways—Colorstrology: What Your Birthday Color Says About You. I immediately ordered it and had it delivered the next day. This book is crazy accurate not only with its colors but its predictions of yourself and, most importantly, how you can use the color to enhance your characteristics further.

So, to get to know my clients more, I offered them a look at their birthday colors, and they loved it! They decided to go with Parisian Blue of December 20th - which was converted to Sherwin Williams' Lupine blue paint. Scott texted me the night after I finished painting it, explaining how the mural reacts to its new environment - we'll get into that later. But he was also explaining to me that his relationship to this color runs much deeper than just his birthday color; it's been his favorite color all his life. I'm telling you guys, go get this book, or HEY! Message me your birthday, and I'll send you your color!

Now that we know why we chose this color let's discuss what makes that the best choice. After the prompts, there was a lot of freedom to explore and pitch parts of my work that only a slim few will appreciate - or so I've been told to believe. So when Cum Wall was just a thought, as well as the mural below, I immediately saw it completed - I saw all the branding I'd create for it, I saw the merch I'd wanna sell with it and all its collateral - enamel pins, stickers, wallpapers, etc. I saw it all, and this encouraged me to create the mockup. There was no plan b. Just like there was no other color for this to work. Even while sketching it out, I couldn't imagine choosing jet black matte paint for this or even a lighter gray to make the composition more subtle. No, it had to be this blue for multiple reasons. My favorite one is it exemplifies the best double entendre, for it can be interpreted as water to less perverted minds. [I think Lichtenstein would enjoy that as well - his paint strokes mural below inspired mine.]

Another reason that makes this color choice absolutely phenomenal is how it reacts to its environment. As I mentioned before, Scott told me that it feels like a trance as they walk to the back of their apartment; the mural pulls you in to relax and wind down because after sundown against night lamps and phone screens, it becomes a dark and creamy milky way of deep navy blue. It shows you all of its shadows and lets them fall and fall again. Then at dawn, it's as fresh as morning dew - becoming a glistening sapphire ready to brighten your day.

Inspired By:

Roy Lichtenstein
Paint strokes, 1970.
Inside the University of Dusseldorf, Germany.

Process Video: Vimeo

It took me a while to find the exact post where I claimed my work would turn into happy shapes. My calendar shows March 9th, 2020, but as I was scrolling back and looking at older compositions, I had an inkling way before March. Hell, even farther than two years ago, I felt my work was going to lead here. What I didn't understand then was the why or where. I couldn't have fathomed my progression would lead to condo murals.

I would love to go into more detail about the color swatches and what each of them symbolize - however, this sudden burst of optimism has given me a crazy amount of ideas that I need to sketch out before they disappear - particularly about the apparel line in association with this era - Very Happy Shapes (VHS) that I'm trying to brand from scratch. Until then, enjoy the attached phone wallpapers. So much more to come. Lastly, what a lovely way to celebrate 10 years outta the closet.

Become a Better Seamstress

I completely dropped the ball on this one and the various other planned projects - mainly because the murals took up so much of my time and energy. However, there was a special moment with Seth, an old friend passing through town. He booked a spontaneous Halloween trip to Gaythering with a couple of friends. We hit it off after running into him while I was helping decorate. We hung out at my apartment during his downtime, and he taught me how to hem some shorts of mine. It was a small moment but impactful because it was the little spark I needed to set up my sewing machine. It's been boxed up since I moved to Miami. If you're reading this, Seth, thank you for your time and love.

Perfect My Series

Initially, I had penned AOC to be my next Mucha Girl to illustrate. That quickly switched when Mary J. Blige dropped her documentary over the summer. Her legacy meant too much to me to let the moment pass. Although she was the only addition, I'm so grateful to have her completed and elegantly represented.

Here’s to the New Year

As always, I’m not gonna spend much time on 2022 goals - I have to live it and make it happen. But my word of the year is Approved. I keep seeing it in my dreams in green neon. I’ll make someone with that visual soon. I love y'all, now go love yourselves.

Reflective, CritiqueDePaul VeraJanuary 1, 2022Miami, Thoughts, 2019, 2020, NYE, New Year ResolutionComment

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