Thursday, October 14, 2010

Tony Stafki - Muralist


Tony Stafki
email: tonystafki@yahoo.com
www.WallArtByTony.com
Facebook page

Bio: I painted canvas pieces since I was eleven years old but never imagined I'd end up painting for a living. I worked as a regular wall painter and then discovered the amazing possibilities of murals. I started my own mural painting company and love creating walls of art!


Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
I am a full time mural artist servicing the Twin Cities. I get paid for doing what I love: bringing art into people's homes and businesses on a large scale. The last project I did was painting clouds on a wall in a meeting room at the Saint Paul Airport. Basically every project I do is unique. One day I'll be painting cartoon characters in a kid's room the next day I'll be painting a ceiling in a living room to look like a cathedral dome.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
I'd have to say the best painting advice I received was from Bob Ross on his TV shows. He had great tips such as don't overkill your background color and sometimes you have to just go for it and be daring.


Tell me about your working space and your creative process?
My working space changes each project depending on where I'm painting the mural. I really enjoy the opportunity to paint with homeowners and children watching me. Once I painted a 50 foot long exterior mural in Osseo, MN and I had people coming up and watching and talking to me all day. My creative process begins with me discussing the project with the client. I then do some basic sketches to finalize the details. Then I paint, paint, paint until the wall or ceiling is done. It is an interesting process in that I have to paint more "on demand" instead of just when I'm "in the mood" to paint.


Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?
I'm a mural artist so I really enjoy some of the other Minnesota muralists such as Greg Preslicka and Tracie Thompson.


If I were to follow you around on an “art day” in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?
We'd take a stroll down Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis and look at the many different murals on that street. Also, we'd go to the Northrup King Building in which one of my murals will be featured in a studio this upcoming show (May 2011).


Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?
I like MNartists.com as well as FindaMuralist.com which lists muralists by state and has a live feed which is constantly being updated with recent murals from muralists across the nation.

Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future?
I've been invited to feature one of my murals in the NE Minneapolis art crawl (Art-A-Whirl, May 20111) which will be exciting. In the near future I foresee painting many murals across the state.

If you were to receive a $2,000 art grant to do anything you want, what would you do?
I would use it to buy a booth at the Minneapolis Home and Garden show thus giving people the opportunity to see what the power of hand-painted art can do for their homes.

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