Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga, owner of Mexican arts store Bella Luna in Spanishtown, frequents a certain Daly City restaurant that sports a wall mural of the San Francisco skyline. She and her husband fell in love with it, and pictured one like it in Bella Luna.
"We wanted to bring Mexico to the store," she said.
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"An awful lot of people do murals," Hooker commented. "I guess it's the thing to do around homes. It seems to be trend now - indoor ones, anyway."
And outdoor ones too, judging from the spate of murals blossoming on the walls of local businesses, schools and parks.
Montara artist Sue Prichard, creator of many painted or mosaic murals, says it's a reactionary thing.
"The interest in murals and mosaics comes from technology and the involvement in machine-made things," she said. "I think people value hand-made things more because they're more rare."
On Main Street, the Francis Building mural depicts local history. One being painted onto City Hall will show the Coastside's fields and ocean.
"I think people care about this town, and adorning it with art is a gift to the town, to residents and visitors," said Charles Nelson, co-owner of Nuestra Tierra in the Francis Building. "It's a way to say we care about the town, and of taking pride in it."
Whatever it is behind the coast's mural madness, murals shine as a proud visual statement about the landscape and culture here.
'The heart of Mexico'
Thinking over that Daly City eatery, the mural in Tres Amigos restaurant and the art and crafts in her store, a Mexican mural was a shoo-in for Hernandez-Arriaga.
'I wanted to capture the heart of Mexico," she said.
So she recruited El Granada resident Ellen Silva, an illustrator and graphic artist who writes and performs acoustic music as "a little side thing." Silva had studied at and done volunteer work with the Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center in San Francisco's Mission District.
She did mural work in the Mission and, in 1998 and 1999, directed mural projects with students and teachers at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Daly City. Inspired since high school by the art of Vincent Van Gogh, she went on to do 31 mural projects in eight years.
Doing murals in public places, is "so social," Silva said. "It's very inclusive and community-oriented ... It's therapeutic, getting to work on murals with people."
The Bella Luna mural is done in water-based acrylic and measures four-by-eight feet. It depicts a small Mexican town and features items shoppers might find in the store, like crepe flowers, ceramic suns or pottery. It's a "traveling mural," Hernandez-Arriaga said, meaning it will stay in the store but also go with the owners to arts fairs.
A celebration is planned this Saturday, May 7, noting the completion of the mural, which Silva began April 16. Set for 2 p.m., the party includes Mexican food and music by Silva and her band. Located in Spanishtown on Highway 92, Bella Luna can be reached at 560-9124.
'Add beauty to the town'
Drive by City Hall on Main Street, and you'll spot Montara architect and artist Doug Snow perched on a scaffolding, at work on a re-creation of Half Moon Bay's farms, hills, and ocean vistas.
"That is the essence of what makes Half Moon Bay distinct," he said.
It began with Rotary International's 100th anniversary commemoration. Clubs worldwide are dong "centennial projects" that add to their communities. Snow's mural was chosen by Half Moon Bay Rotary's project committee.
"We chose this to add a sense of beauty to the town we live and work in," said Charles Nelson, a Half Moon Bay Rotarian who chaired the committee. "To add to the beauty of the town, by bringing the landscape and natural beauty into the town in the form of art."
Drawing from Snow's architectural background and the artistic style of "trompe l'oeil" or "fooling the eye," this 19-foot by 42-foot work, done in exterior latex paint, wraps around the City Hall building to recreate what visitors see when they drive into town.
"This job has a bit of architecture, because I'm taking the front of the building and wrapping it around the side," said Snow, who has also done large murals for the Half Moon Bay Yacht Club and as illustrative backdrops for his daughter 's business.
The scene, he said, captures Half Moon Bay's "sense of place." With help from local artist Randie Marlowe and carpenter Ron Madson, Snow should finish the work for dedication in early June.
This is the second mural that Nelson brought to Main Street. The first one, on the Francis Building, encapsulates Half Moon Bay's history and culture.
Dedicated in September 2003, painted by Mexican artists Adriana Gallego and Claudio Dicochea, that mural was meant as a celebration of the community.
"It was an opportunity for residents and visitors to learn more about the city," Nelson said.
He said murals boost morale.
"If done well, they can be an inspiration," he said. "They can make your day better. Exposure to art you connect with improves your spirit and makes you feel good."
'A big piece of art you can share'
In 1994, while remodeling La Piazza, Ozzi Cardoni decided she wanted a garden feel, and January Hooker was the artist to add that.
So Hooker, drawing on photos of Filoli Gardens, painted a lush garden setting adjacent to the deli.
Cardoni, pleased, tapped Hooker for the second one. "We wanted it to be consistent," Hooker said.
For the new mural, which Hooker is doing in acrylics and began last December, she created an amalgam of Filoli scenes: green hills, well-kept gardens, manicured lawns, flowers and a majestic pool that reflects the estate's stonework.
It's the first thing visitors see when they enter La Piazza. "I chose a one-point perspective so that when you walk in the front door, it will draw you in, deeper and deeper," Hooker said.
Since that back wall is plumbed for water, a low fountain will be place against the back wall with water spouting from a lion's mouth.
"It will look like a real garden," Hooker said. "Hopefully, the whole thing will flow together for all the senses" with the sound of water, the look of a garden and the scent of flowers, she added.
Murals give something to the whole town, Hooker pointed out.
"People thank me for sharing this beauty," she said. "Ozzi and I wanted to create the walls to give a feeling. I love painting gardens, so this was that calming feeling. It's a big piece of art you can share."
'Something that takes time'
Visit Half Moon Bay and you'll see Sue Prichard everywhere.
Just since 2000, Prichard has done a mural at Hatch Elementary School that combines sky, mountains and kids, mural work for Coastside Children's Programs and the mosaic work at Mac Dutra Park.
In 2003 she did the large mosaic mural on the north side of the building that houses Arrigotti Fine Jewelry, which she calls "a piece of the coast" looking toward Montara Mountain and the ocean.
She's already planning her next project: a painted mural for Seton Medical Center Coastside, which will incorporate flowers and nature and be located by the entrance to the physical therapy department.
"Sometimes I paint big, sometimes I paint small," she joked.
Either way, she paints to give something that viewers don't see much in today's world, she said.
Viewers "get back something that takes time and emotional expression," she said. "It's not part of our lives, even on television. It's art as a part of someone's soul. It's unique."
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