70: Joe Pagac

70: Joe PagacJoe Pagac says he spent most of grade school doing crayon drawings of whatever his classmates wanted to see him draw -- like a man riding a horse riding a dolphin riding a skateboard. He says he always loved getting the attention and having crowds of onlookers for...

By Claire Lawton

July 6, 2010

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70: Joe Pagac

Joe Pagac says he spent most of grade school doing crayon drawings of whatever his classmates wanted to see him draw -- like a man riding a horse riding a dolphin riding a skateboard. He says he always loved getting the attention and having crowds of onlookers for what was "normally a fairly introverted hobby." It wasn't until he took a drawing 101 class in college that he switched majors and decided to make a go of art as a career.

Eight months ago, he was hired to paint a live mural onto the outside of Eye Lounge during First Friday. He's been painting various concert promotion murals there every month, ever since. "These giant, one night murals give me a chance to be out around people AND paint whatever I want AND get paid for it," says Pagac. "It's like being Bob Ross with a live studio audience. It's thrilling."

Check out more of Pagac's murals and why he says he doesn't mind talking about his projects after the jump ...

1. List five things on your Inspiration Wall (real or imagined).
These are the things that are literally on my wall in front of me right now and always while I am working on sketches or whatever...
- A custom poster of George Washington looking serious and asking "Who Farted?". A timeless classic.
- A framed photo of a toddler with neon blue and pink hair eating a giant chicken leg with the following a quote from Oscar Wilde beneath it: "No great artist ever sees things as they really are, if he did, he would cease to be an artist.
- A photo taken in the 70s of my aunt looking EXACTLY like Napoleon Dynamite. EXACTLY like him!
- A slightly torn, black and white poster of Bruce Lee. Looking at it more just inspires me to scowl and slowly nod than to actually learn martial arts.
- A pen drawing in a golden frame of a scientist sitting in a corner of an empty room with a dead half-man half-gorilla in his arms. He is saying, "This is my son, this... is a humilla." Next to it is written, "...and then he ate the humilla. The End."

2. What's your last big project? I'm just finished doing three 15-foot-tall by 12-foot-wide portraits of old Mexican movie stars on giant canvases. They were too big to fit in my house so I had to paint them on my roof. It was hot up there. Real hot.

3. What's your next big project?
I have a few great walls lined up that people have offered to let me paint my own art on if I can find the time. I will be doing a three-hour mural in the
Tucson Museum of Art on Friday in front of a large crowd which I am stoked about. I also have a whole bunch of ever changing walls to repaint as new shows come to Phoenix and Tucson.

4. How much do you hate being asked what your next big project is?
I ALWAYS prefer people asking about my next project to people asking if I know I got some paint on my clothes. I know.

5. What's something you want Phoenix to know about you?
Just because I have a 520 area code (on my phone) doesn't mean I don't work in
Phoenix (or Vegas, New York or Jamaica for that matter.) Give me a wall and
I'll be there. You can see my work at www.joepagac.com

The Creatives, so far:

100. Fausto Fernandez
99. Brian Boner
98. Carol Panaro-Smith
97. Jane Reddin
96. Adam Dumper
95. Mayme Kratz
94. Daniel Tantalean
93. Yuri Artibise
92. Lisa Starry
91. Paul Hoeprich
90. Betsy Schneider
89. Mary Shindell
88: Gabriel Utasi
87: Tiffany Egbert
86. Angela Cazel Jahn
85. Dayvid LeMmon
84. Beatrice Moore
83. Michelle J. Martinez
82. Carrie Bloomston
81. Paul Porter
80. Rachel Bess
79. Karolina Sussland
78. Aaron Abbott
77. Mary Lucking
76. Erin Sotak
75. Greg Esser
74. Matthew Mosher
73. Mark Klett
72. Tony Carrillo
71. Paul Morris

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