He’s not a mural artist by trade, but after spending a little more than a month working on a new mural in downtown Wilton, it may not take long before Paul Marquez’s skills are sought after again.
The mural can be seen on the back side of the old Star Drug Store building, located on the corner of Cedar and Fourth streets in downtown Wilton. It depicts a woman with flowing hair blowing bubbles on the back wall at the top of the building, and an interactive wall of bubbles on the back west wall at ground level. Both have a bright blue background.
The ground level mural also involves a stick that can be used for photos, where visitors can act like they are blowing the bubbles. Marquez’s vision also includes people of any age being able to touch and interact with the many bubbles on the interactive wall on the Cedar Street side.
Marquez, 45, describes himself as just one of many talented artists in Wilton. He has a wide array of artistic talents and interests. “Since I was a kid, I’ve always been drawing,” he said.
He was also in a band for 10 years. “That was my life, that’s what we did,” Marquez continued.
He also spent a decade as a tattoo artist, even running a shop in Wilton. Marquez then began painting with acrylic and oil paints.
Yet his big desire was simple: “I wanted to be able to spray paint on a wall and not get busted,” Marquez said with a chuckle.
Around a year and a half ago, he was on the roof of the old Star Drug building doing some work for WTC Communications. The building had recently been repainted as part of the downtown revitalization program. Yet the partial wall on the back side wasn't part of the program and needed work.
Marquez took a picture of the wall and immediately began brainstorming mural ideas. The first thing that came to mind was a young girl blowing bubbles. He drew a rendition of what the mural could look like with colored pencils, and showed it to building owner Lynn Ochiltree.
Lynn, who owns the building along with his wife Brenda, looked at it and thought it looked so realistic, he wondered if Marquez had painted it already. Marquez presented the couple with several ideas for a mural but, ultimately, they decided on the first rendition — the bubbles.
A little more than a year later, the Ochiltrees committed, and Marquez was off, beginning the mural July 14, and finishing Aug. 17.
Around the same time, some murals had been painted in downtown Muscatine, including an interactive one. Marquez then began searching online for interactive mural ideas.
Once the Ochiltrees also OK’d painting the wall on the street level, Marquez knew that was his opportunity to get creative and make an interactive portion of the overall mural idea.
He power-washed the walls, then used a primer on each wall before painting them blue. He then used spray paints for the mural art and bubbles, using a special spray paint, Montana Gold, that he was told is great for mural painting.
He used circular pieces of cardboard to make the outlines of the bubbles, then free-handed them from there with spray paint.
“We had been wanting and thinking about repainting (those walls),” said Lynn Ochiltree. “Brenda and I love art. The idea of doing something, we were never hesitant. And we weren’t disappointed. We were privileged to have him do it. It’s like a beautiful pin-striped suit on this elegant building. Then you go around back and see there’s these bright, argyle socks.”
Marquez chronicled his work with a time-lapse video, and posted ongoing photos to Facebook. While the majority of the commentary was supportive and enthusiastic, he admits he’s his own toughest critic.
Also, he admits he’s afraid of heights, making the job a bit stressful. Not to mention he was often working on it during the hottest afternoons of the year. “People would drive by and honk and I’d tense up,” said Marquez.
And he’s already eying more “canvasses” around Wilton that would make great locations for murals.
Lynn and Brenda, who also own the historic Wilton Candy Kitchen, said they’ve been receiving nothing but great comments about the new mural. Many of the most enthusiastic comments, according to Lynn, have come from some of the older residents in town, which was a pleasant surprise.
“I’ll never get a tattoo, so I’ll never have (Paul’s) art on my body. His painting my building was the next best thing,” Lynn said.
Brenda reminds visitors to downtown Wilton to always look up. “You’ve got to look up. In fact, always keep your head up. Come to downtown Wilton to see the Cedar Street mural — it will blow you away!”