Totally Baked Restaurant Mural in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

The direction I was given for the bathroom mural was simple: “Make it gaudy, obnoxious, and hippie-themed.” I looked at the owners, smiled, and replied, “Challenge accepted.”

The owners of Totally Baked Pizza reached out to me by referral. They loved my colorful style and wanted murals throughout their new pizza shop that captured a fun 1960s and 70s hippie vibe. They wanted subtle nods to marijuana culture while still being family friendly. The clients then gave me inspiration photos, a color palette, the overall feeling they wanted to convey, and then gave me almost full artistic freedom.

I started imagining the mural as one giant fever dream.  I immediately got out my iPad to draw the silliest mural I have ever done. It featured my childhood cat, Benny, happily smoking a joint while dreaming about aliens abducting pizza slices, glitter rocket ships, and hippie buses.

They even wanted me to glitter the ceiling. I removed every ceiling tile, spread them across tarps, painted them hot pink, and doused them with glitter. That day I was completely covered in glitter from head to toe. It was in my hair, my clothes, and in a nice little trail leading to my car. But, when the owners saw the finished bathroom, they gushed so much that they asked me to paint the rest of the building.

I then painted the lobby in a colorful “Let’s Get Baked” peace sign mural. I even unknowingly chose the owner’s favorite color for the background. That is I know the client and I are on the same page.

The lobby mural then led into a long hallway to the bathroom. Their idea was truly out of this world. They wanted a black light mural that would make visitors debate whether they were in outer space or underwater. I ordered professional grade fluorescent paint designed for permanent blacklight murals and transformed the hallway into a page out of my sketchbooks. I painted a glowing world of alien pirates, wiggly jellyfish, and a giant lanternfish that was intent to swallow the bathroom door whole.

Looking back, I think this project perfectly captures the ideal balance between a client’s vision and artistic liberty. The most creative designs happen when the artist is given a framework of boundaries to stick within and then the freedom to explore concepts. Honestly, I never would have thought of creating an outer space under the sea adventure, but the minute they described it pink space cats started dancing in my head. 

So if you really have to use the restroom in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, please go to Totally Baked’s bathroom to see the bathroom mural. Don’t forget to tell the cat that I say hello.