Pop Art - Part 1
June 16, 2009 | By
The story of Mantastic Crafter, Patrick Murillo, his wife, the Crafty Chica, Kathy Cano-Murillo,and their family, is a tale of Crafts, Drama and Glitter!
Patrick is a Mexican-American artist and musician, born and raised in Phoenix, AZ. When Patrick started his band, the RastaFarmers, his good friend Kathy Cano became his manager, making and selling her jewelry at band gigs she set up. In 1990, after falling in love, Kathy & Patrick married and vowed to live as artists, even if it meant sacrifices! Almost 20 years later, they now have two kids, DeAngelo, 18 and Maya, 16 and five Chihuahuas, of various ages.
You may have caught one of Patrick's gigs where he's shared the stage with many reggae greats such as Burning Spear, Steel Pulse, Ziggy Marley, the Wailers, Inner Circle, Black Uhuru, Jimmy Cliff, and Dennis Brown. He has also made a name for himself as a painter, illustrator, and, of course, The Mantastic Crafter! He and Kathy own and operate ChicanoPopArt.com and together have hand made pieces for Bloomingdales, Hallmark, Target.com, and more than 300 gallery shops and boutiques, nationwide. An exciting recent project has been drawing hundreds of images for the new Crafty Chica product line with Duncan Enterprises. Another is the mixed-media assemblage on display in “La Casa Murillo: A Life-Sized Shadow Box” at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ.
Since Father's Day is quickly approaching, we talked to Maya Murillo about what its like being the Mantastic Crafter’s daughter. Maya, an artist herself, is already living out loud with her very own website, Maya in the Moment! This is how she puts it: “I'm Maya, a 16-year-old with two artists as parents. My mom is the Crafty Chica and my dad is the Mantastic Crafter. I have to admit, their lifestyle has worn off on me. I write, play music, act, and craft. I've learned to live and love every moment and I want to share to inspire others to do the same!”
Wendy T. Gibson: Maya, having the best Hallowe’en costumes EVER is just one of the perks of having a super crafty mom and dad! I know that just recently, you were demonstrating craft products at Maker Faire with your mom. How did that go?
Maya Murillo: Yeah! I got to demo how to make Tie Dye T-shirts with Tulip One-Step dye! Everyone was so nice, and patient. I seriously made close to 10 shirts that weekend. It was a great experience!”
WTG: Since Father’s Day is coming up, and since your family are such craft trend setters, we thought that we would ask what it’s like to have not just a crafty chica mom, but a crafty dad, too! Is it twice the fun?
MM: Definitely! Whenever I'm bored out of my mind, they always have creative things for me to do!
Stand by for Part Two of Pop Art, with more from Maya Murillo, coming this week!
Photo top: The crafters themselves, Patrick and Kathy Murillo.
Wendy T. Gibson is the Crafty Canadian! Her light-hearted creations online here: http://www.artfire.com/users/WingedHeartStudio
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