Stop and Smell the Flowers, Feel the Ecstasy | The Tulsan Bar
Tulsa, Oklahoma | December 2022
15' × 45' | Aerosol and acrylic paint | Collaboration with WHATSNEXTART
Stop and Smell the Flowers, Feel the Ecstasy was created in collaboration with my friend and fellow artist Miles Rogoish of WHATSNEXTART in the alley beside The Tulsan Bar in downtown Tulsa.
Thanks to the owner of The Tulsan, we were given a lot of creative freedom with this project. The goal was simply to create something fun, colorful, and eye-catching that could bring the alley to life.
The wall gave us a large space to combine our styles and create something that felt cohesive. Miles incorporated some of his signature work into the window sections while I brought my own style into the surrounding mural. Together, the different elements transformed what had been an ordinary alley into a space with its own personality.
That transformation was one of my favorite parts of the project. Murals have the ability to activate spaces that people might otherwise walk past without thinking much about them. With some paint, creativity, and collaboration, this alley became something people could stop and look at, photograph, and experience as part of downtown.
I also remember the experience of actually painting it. It was winter in Tulsa, so some days were surprisingly nice and others got pretty cold. We worked through it and had a great time bringing everything together.
This project was another reminder of how much fun collaboration can be when everyone is given room to experiment. We were able to combine different ideas and styles while creating something that felt like it belonged together.
Overall, it was a great experience and one of those projects where we simply had the freedom to create.
