Hello Love, It’s my favorite week of the year! I love Thanksgiving – the yummy food, fall colors,  hikes, naps, and long week of rest – but mostly how good it feels to individually and collectively tune into gratitude and steep in that together. I feel sheepish to share this, but for the last four months, I have been taking it easy. Resting, rebooting, and taking lots of days off with nothing to show for it. It sounds better in the retelling than my actual experience of it, which included feeling adrift, worrying about work and finances, and lots of “should” -ing on myself (I should be po ..read more

Hi love! I recently wrapped up my tallest mural to date at Solaire Apartments, 130 living spaces built for households that are in threat of being priced out of the housing market, but are essential to a strong and diverse community, including the lower-income workforce, and individuals and families who have experienced homelessness in the past. Solaire Apartments will reserve half of its units as permanent supportive housing to address the homelessness crisis in the County of Santa Clara. I was a little bit nervous on the ladder climbing to the last scaffolding tier, but the mural would just n ..read more

Watford City, North Dakota One thing I have always valued about my work is the adventures it takes me on – the people and places I learn from along the way. The thing about adventures, similar to artmaking, is what makes it an adventure is that there is a leap involved, a risk. Leaps, risk: not always easy. It is only in the rearview mirror, when I see the ways I was stretched that even my sideways adventures seem worth the ride. Painting in North Dakota seemed like a good idea when I first considered it, from the safety of my couch at home. Having my artwork at a museum would be a great venu ..read more

2576 Lombard Street, San Francisco After all this rain, I can’t wait to see the bounty that will come with spring! This year, spring has already arrived along Lombard Street with blooming artwork commissioned by the Marina Motel. The Marina Motel was built in 1939 to celebrate the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. The motel is run by the granddaughter of the original owner. Many of the guests at the hotel have been regulars for decades, and within the community, the motel has become a neighborhood landmark. My artwork was a refresh- I was repainting over floral murals that have been th ..read more

Last week, as I was wrapping up a mural project, my client said to me, “Honestly I wasn’t sold on the design. But I am thrilled with how the mural turned out.” I was finishing up my third mural project at three different assisted living centers, all in southern California.  What my client said at the end of the project was not a surprise to me. It’s true: my designs are a far cry from the impact of the completed mural. I articulate to my clients that the ideas may shift, sometimes dramatically, once I am onsite and elbows deep in the creative process. It’s part of the dynamic nature of si ..read more

First up: I made this for YOU.     Next: A Dramatic Entrance for Pabu, a Michael Mina Restaurant in San Francisco   I was super fortunate to have my friend and photography artist Harlan Crowder come to capture the mural progress. All the good photos in this newsletter are his, and you can find more of his work on his website here. The glass front posed a unique challenge, but Harlan capitalized on the complexity with this amazing photo:   I painted for Pabu Izakaya Japanese Restaurant previously, both in San Francisco and Boston, starting ..read more

I had a super fun collaboration last month with Lisa and Berry, the owners of the new Gamelandia store now open at 290 California Avenue in Palo Alto. Berry is turning his passion for meeting up with friends to play strategy games into a full-time operation. They both worked in creative fields previously, and Berry’s enthusiasm to include a nod to all the greatest hits in the mural art was tempered by Lisa’s curatorial wisdom, and love of quirky simplicity. I hired artist Zoey Brenner to spend two full days splattering every square inch of the wall with fluorescent and glow-in ..read more

Last month I painted the landscape of one of my favorite hiking areas, Windy Hill in Portola Valley.  I was commissioned by The Sequoias, a senior living community nestled next to the trailhead for the Windy Hill recreation area to create a view of the local landscape for the residents in memory care. The Sequoias expanded a few years back and the new building blocked the view for the memory care residents.  What is awesome about a mural is that it not only turns a flat wall into “an extra hundred acres”,  you can also pick your favorite season, blooms, and wildlife. In this c ..read more

I am humbled and thrilled to share this article written by the incredibly talented writer Johanna Harlow in this month’s Punch magazine. Enjoy! by Johanna Harlow for Punch Magazine, July 2022 “Has anyone ever told you, you’re a little like Bob Ross?” Yep, Morgan Bricca has heard this line before. More than a shared crop of curls, the commonality between her and the iconic PBS art instructor likely lies in her artistic philosophy that painting should be a joyful act. Comparisons aside, Morgan’s canvases tend to be tens to hundreds of times larger. As a Los Altos-based muralist, Morgan pours ..read more

What is making me happy this week? This: No, it is not me in that boom lift, it is a student from my workshop last year, Anne Shreivogl. When Anne took my workshop last year, she had never painted a mural before. This is her third public mural since taking my workshop. If you can take your eyes off those amazing butterflies for a second, you might notice Anne has silver-colored hair. She is an inspiration to all of us that you can try new things and push yourself out of your comfort zone at any age. Anne sent me this heartwarming note this morning: “Treat yourself like a princess”. Th ..read more