We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stacy Nalapraya. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stacy below.

Alright, Stacy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

When I was a very young woman starting out my career in psychology and starting a family- I had not ever once considered pursuing art as a career. Growing up in an Asian household, art was more considered to be a hobby than a full-time job. The irony of this is, my (two) sisters and I all have active careers as artists- and I have a boyfriend who is an artist too! Although supportive, Mom isn’t too thrilled about it and still makes a point to remind us that art is still indeed “just a hobby.”

Amazingly art found its way to me- once upon a time in 2013 at the Annual Pasadena Chalk Festival. All it took was one festival- and I never looked back. Winning a number of other chalk festivals in Southern California one after the other- it was truly an amazing experience, and still is! I am still pinching myself after winning 2nd place Best in Festival at the Pasdena Chalk festival last year!

In hindsight, yes, I do wish I started my art career sooner. I also wish that I had pursued a BA in Fine Art as opposed to Psychology. However, the past is the past, and I am grateful for all my experiences that made me who I am today.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a self-taught traditional artist who specializes in Italian Street Painting, or Imadonnari. You may know this art form as chalk art or pastel art. What I do is create large-scale murals on pavement. These murals typically range in size- but the largest one I have ever completed measured 12′ x 12′ and took 3 days to complete! I also specialize in other mediums such as acrylic, oil, graphite, spray paint- you name it! I travel around Southern California with my artist boyfriend (Randall Williams) at various events selling our artwork. We are known for our participation in the 626 Night Market series selling our fine art and prints.

We are always looking for ways to grow and expand our brand, which is traditional artwork on canvas. We also create large-scale building murals as well- both commercial and residential! A couple of our favorite projects were creating a Kobe & Gigi mural for JEI learning Center in Manhattan Beach, and creating seven karaoke rooms filled with different environments from across the world! This project was located at Bay Karaoke Bar & Grill in Stanton.

@snalapraya
@randall.williams.raw.batman

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect about being an artist is that I get to bring joy to people. I get to paint/create something that inspires and motivates, that serves as a “battery” for the soul. Oftentimes, what will happen is, I will give away a piece of artwork just to see that smile on the person’s face. One time, a little girl wanted a print of mine but her mother was unable to buy it for her because she could not afford it. I ended up giving it to her- the joy and excitement on her face was priceless. I also like to see kids inspired by what I do- either through my artwork display or live demos. When I hear them say- “I want to do that too!” brings me so much happiness.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Starting my journey as an artist was not easy. When I started my art journey, my family and I had just gotten evicted from our apartment due to poor financial decisions made by my husband at the time. We were homeless for about a year. Art supplies were (and still are increasingly) expensive, so I had to prioritize my family’s basic needs over art. I was very fortunate to have an office job at the time, so that helped pay for some of our expenses. My then husband did not work, which made things harder on our life and the lives of our three young children who were in middle and elementary school. On top of that, he was emotionally abusive. I would often get guilt-tripped for attending art shows during the weekends, and conducting paint nights after work at the prospect of making extra money for the family. Long story short, we ended up moving into an apartment, and I eventually got a divorce. I was very fortunate to have art in my life, as it kept me grounded.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @snalapraya