Behind the Mural: Ornamental Roses
California summers have a particular energy, and my recent trip to Elk Grove for the Paint the Grove festival was a perfect example of it. Organized by my good friends Camer (@camer1sf) and Crystal through Talking Walls Art, the project gave me the opportunity to create a mural in a setting where urban art, nature, music, and local history come together.
Over the course of the festival, I had the chance to paint the façade of a truly unique location: the local School of Rock building. From the beginning, I knew this would be more than simply painting a large wall. The architecture itself became an important part of the artwork.
Painting on a historic building comes with a very different set of challenges. A façade like this isn't simply a blank canvas. It already has its own personality, history, proportions, and architectural details that deserve to be preserved.
Rather than covering those elements, I wanted the mural to work with the building.
The existing columns, moldings, and architectural framing became part of the composition. I deliberately left these features visible, allowing the original structure to remain present while introducing a new visual layer around it.
The idea was to create something that felt as though it had always belonged there. Ornamental flowers emerge and grow around the architecture, following its shapes and adapting to its different sections rather than fighting against them.
For me, that relationship between the artwork and its surroundings is one of the most interesting aspects of working on public murals. The wall is never completely isolated from its environment it has a history, a function, and a context that can become part of the artwork itself.
Floral motifs have always been an important part of my work. I was experimenting with flowers, botanical elements, and organic patterns during my early years painting graffiti, long before my work developed into the visual language I use today.
Over time, those early influences evolved and became more intricate, combining natural forms with ornamental patterns, architectural references, and animal imagery.
Returning to flowers for the School of Rock in Elk Grove therefore felt quite personal. There is something special about revisiting an element that has been part of your artistic vocabulary from the beginning and seeing how it has changed over the years.
What makes festivals like Paint the Grove special is the community that forms around them. During the days of painting, you don't just spend time working on a wall you meet people, exchange ideas, talk to locals, discover the area, and become part of a much bigger creative environment.
Working with Camer and Crystal is always an absolute pleasure. Their work through Talking Walls Art goes far beyond simply organizing mural festivals. They put a huge amount of care into bringing artists together, creating opportunities for public art, and connecting those projects with the communities where they take place.
That collaborative spirit is something I really value. A mural may ultimately have one artist's name on it, but there are always many people behind the finished piece.
Thank you @serg_shoots for the amazing photos
