Local painter and muralist Ryan Henry Ward will be painting a brand new work live at Queen Anne’s own Twirl Cafe from noon until 5 p.m. today, Monday, June 6.
Henry’s murals can be seen in and around business all over Seattle, as well as on a number of concrete walls and homesteads, like the house on Nickerson that was transformed into a three dimensional work of art last year. His whimsical style will be a perfect addition to the kid-centric Twirl Cafe, which focuses on providing a family focused space for relaxation (for parents) and child play (for kids) in the Queen Anne community.
Want to see some of Henry’s prior work? Check out this time-lapsed video of Henry creating a mural at Lowell Elementary:
While Twirl’s play area will be closed while Henry paints today, the cafe will remain open for coffee and lunch service, and Twirl owner Rebecca Pelletier invites neighbors to swing by and watch the artist in action.
A little background information on Henry, courtesy of Twirl Cafe:
Ryan graduated with a degree in Art, Writing and Storytelling for Children from Fairhaven College in Western Washington. It was at Fairhaven that he began to focus on his writing, theatre crafts and painting. He has written and illustrated several books for loved ones, as well as illustrated children’s books authored and published by others.
Since June of 2008, Ryan has completed over 110 murals, and it is this body of work that he has become most famous for. Previous to becoming a public muralist, he had painted dozens of murals in private residences around the Pacific Northwest. He has created works in India and Thailand, as well as four murals in the Dominican Republic. Selling over 400 original canvases in Seattle over the past couple of years, Ryan’s vision of creating primitive images with a dream like surreal quality has come to fruition… He wants the natural rawness of the painting process to show through his balanced, bright, and whimsical work.
You can check out more of Henry’s work at his website and on his Flickr page. I’ll be swinging by Twirl later today to catch the artist at work, and will be posting updates as he goes.