Pandemic Blues to Pandemic Hues

     While most of us would get slandered for taking chalk or paint to walls, Octavia Bishop gets paid to do so. 

   After being introduced to her work through a Facebook page I follow (Stone Mountain Art Center), I had the opportunity to talk with the self-taught artist earlier this month.    At first, Octavia seemed like the perfect candidate to interview for a magazine course I'm taking at Emerson College. However, after further discussion and the class assignments being limited to a word count of only 300, I further wanted to describe my interview and time with Octavia here on my blog. 

    We met via FaceTime (failing miserably at Zoom audio) on a Tuesday after both of us fell victim of a snow storm incasing us with over a foot of winter mix. Octavia sat in a bright, sunlight room at her home just outside of Portland, Maine. It was clear from even the small image on my laptop that her veins pumped more acrylic and pencil shavings than others. Behind her were utensils waiting to add color to the canvases near, her arm peeked the remanence of a tattoo which later spawned the question of their meanings and self expression through art. It's the act of expression through art that pulled Bishop out of the rut she found herself in- both creatively and emotionally, during the Covid_19 Lockdowns. Octavia, like many others, had found herself in the anxiety of an unknown future for work due to temporary shutdowns ad time-off that non-essential businesses suffered during the pandemic. 

“When Covid hit I was very, very depressed. Just down on myself. It was more stressful. I didn't know when I was going back to work, but I knew in the back of my head I should be painting, ya know? I should be doing STUFF! But I was just so in my head. Then this amazing thing happened during covid. It was around a few months in or something. I got the Disney wall mural. That’s when my wall mural started”.

Bishop continues to explain what she called the "floodgates of mural painting", receiving four more commissions in two to three months to redecorate walls. She recognizes that it was a mix of painting, being able to interact with others, making something for somebody else as well as documenting her work for viewers, that allowed her to find some solace.

The most notable difference Octavia noticed from transiting from canvas to wall is the size aspect as well as "it's a character". There are less creative license when it comes to realistically portraying a Disney Princess or setting a Disney scene. However, the approach is nearly the same.

    The Disney Wall Mural, Bishop mentions can be found in a time-lapse video, along with her other mural endeavors and canvas paintings on her website (here). Not to mention a self written blog of her art.

    The New England native states she has been an artist her whole life, growing up with a mother who use to draw what Bishop calls "beautiful works" but never keep up with it, and a grandmother whom she described as "crafty" . Octavia's first approach to capture her talent came from drawing and scribbling in notebooks. It wasn't until Octavia moved to Australia for several years that art consumed her when she met a little girl whom she painted a picture of a fuzzy headed chicken for. She now finds inspiration from nature, animals, and whimsical, brightly colored objects; 

"I love color, so as wacky as I can get with that."

    Outside of her mural work, her collection is an array of powerful horses covered in war paint and feathers, cool-colored colliding waves against vibrant backgrounds, various birds, and whimsical themes, drawing inspiration from exaggerating the expressions of nature such as ice reflection or her interest in the magical realm, like Harry Potter and unicorns.

"I would love to be an old woman and have this big surrounding of paintings and be 'yeah, I did this in my life'".

In the years to come, Octavia hopes for a successful Etsy shop, more wall murals, and a deeper connection for those to explore herself through her work.