We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Darlene Taylor a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Darlene, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

I wish I knew I had this in me. I really had no idea I could make a living at painting all over the country on a large scale that I am now.

Darlene, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am originally from Ft. Worth and Dallas. I moved to Texarkana in 2009. I first started painting large for the holiday windows when I worked at the Texarkana Lowe’s Home Improvement. I painted the windows to reflect the seasons of Christmas, Veterans Day, Fourth of July. That led me to paint on the side of my home after my husband past away 03/27/2019. The mural on the side of my home was spotted by a writer at HER Magazine and she wrote an article about it.
The owners at El Frio and The Hideout saw that and invited me to paint at their locations. I was then nominated for Remarkable Woman of the Year and I received the Outstanding African American award from Texas A&M. The rest is history.
I provide business with large scale murals or windows or even completely cover their building with a mural. I call it a building wrap.
I want their location to stand out from everyone else around them.
The one thing I am most proud of is the fact that I am able to inspire others to work hard and to be creative. Followers see me always working and they are going out to get things done because they saw me doing it.
I don’t rest. I am constantly trying new things and being the best person I can be.
I believe it’s important to help as much as you can. To help solve problems or to answer questions about what I do. There are a lot of muralist on the internet that will not share any information on how to do what they do. I am an open book. I’m here to help anyway I can. Why do I do this? Because others have helped me to get to where I am now. So I pass that knowledge on to as many I can. Whether it’s to the middle school kids I teach murals to or the summer classes I have at the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council Art Center or the time I donate for cancer and veterans art classes and events.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think what has helped me to build my reputation in my market is the fact that I provide my services quickly and without fuss to the customers. I make sure that getting a mural in or on your business is as easy as possible. You tell me what you want, how big, where at, and when. I show up and start painting. I make sure to give a set price that includes gas, supplies and other necessities. So there are no unforeseen cost. They provide the wall. Typically I’m booked up several weeks to a month because I give myself plenty of time for each mural to get the project completed. I am versatile so I can adjust and add whatever the customer requires.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

My favorite mural is the Kinetic Windstream “Proud to be from here Texarkana”. I took a big leap with this massive mural. It’s 25ft by 178ft. It is the largest mural in Downtown Texarkana. Perhaps even, in this area. It’s the largest one I have done to date. I didn’t think I could do it but, if you believe, you will achieve. Not only was I to complete the mural by a certain time but I also had to do so by myself. The mural being one of six in the country being paid for by a company as large as Kinetic Windstream was a challenge in itself. I was chosen along with five other artists to complete six murals in different cities around the country as a major part of their new advertising campaign. The other artist were long-standing professional muralist and had only been painting murals for a little over a year. I had big expectations from them on what I could do.
The search for a suitable wall location took three months to do. Once a location was decided on the design was reworked and approved by the city manager’s office and historical council was I then allowed to work on the mural.
After painting on the building for seven days a week for three weeks to finish on time. I used 31 gallons of paint. It took two coats of black paint that was 25 gallons to cover the entire building. I worked in the middle of summer with temperatures heat index hit as high as 118 degrees. I painted 10-12 hours every one of those days.
I was definitely determined to be the best of the murals.
It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Everyday I wanted to quit. It was so hot and I was exhausted. There were times I couldn’t load my paint and equipment up and had to call my son to help me. My hands shook from the pain of rolling a roller for hours. My friends all got together to keep me hydrated and supplied with snacks and waters. One of my friends brought me a whole ice chest full to help me finish when the temperature had reached 103 degrees. Without their help I wouldn’t have table to complete the largest mural I’ve ever done.
But in the end it was all worth it.
It was presented in Texarkana Magazine and had a ribbon cutting by the Chamber of Commerce along with several newspaper articles and news networks. Kinetic Windstream has been a great connection for me to be seen by a wider audience and have lifted my career as a professional artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://poplme.co/darlenetaylormurals
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darlenetaylormurals
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/WLbZoVxOsyQ
• Other: Darlene Taylor Murals (903) 417-4954 Darlene Taylor Murals (903) 417-4954 https://g.co/kgs/8ZBYYL

Image Credits
Darlene Taylor