Austinist Interview: Time Warner Mural Artist Careen Vaughn

Careen Vaughn, at work on the Time Warner wall late last year.
Photo by Rebeka Rich.

Tell me a little bit about the selection process.

(Time Warner) wanted something to inspire the community in south Austin, and that was it. You could do whatever you wanted. First, I was inspired by the wall’s shape—I thought it just screamed panoramic picture. Also, it was this time of the year (mid-summer) and it was so sunny and hot out there. I thought it needed some greenery, a lot of cool blues and greens to sort of cool the area down. Right away, Rebeka (Rebeka Rich, Vaughn’s assistant) and I brainstormed about it. I got the idea I wanted to do a South Austin landscape with all of the places that were my favorites, like The Continental Club, Jovita’s and Taco Xpress. We didn’t know if (Loco Maria) was going to stay, or not, so we wanted to put her in there. We were just trying to think of all of these old places, thinking of the neon signs. One of my favorites is El Sol Y La Luna--that was the first real inspiration.

I understand the wall “grew” from the time you submitted your proposal, to the time you were being seriously considered for the project.

When I got the first interview, that’s when I found out the wall was longer. No one knew why I was told 80. . . but then looking at a blueprint, or something, we were shocked to find it was 120 feet. I didn’t hear back about it until the end of September, when they called to ask. . . whether the price was going to change, and I told them, “Not unless the wall gets any bigger!” Then they called me in October, and said they approved it.

How long did the actual painting of the mural take?

Six weeks, but we had holidays and it froze. It was the middle of November when they gave us the approval. (When they called us) I thought, “Oh my gawd,” I already had two projects scheduled, big projects at that, and as soon as that ended I was rushing to do the (final) drawings.

You chose some icon images of Austin, but also some interesting, surprising things, like McKinney Falls. There is a lot of water around Austin, but you chose a landmark that isn’t necessarily what you think of first.

(We did try) to include a lot of things that people don’t know about, like McKinney Falls. I was just trying to think of more parks. I also wanted to frame it, and that was a little bit of a design element, because we started it with the Barton Creek Greenbelt Trail, and so wanted to frame it with McKinney Falls. I used to hike a lot too, so that is a little bit of my own personal history. We put Mr. McKinney’s house in (above the falls).

Can you talk about how the mural evolved as you were creating it, in terms of the elements you chose?

I put Boxee, my cat, in the mural (below the Garrison Park sign), who was right beside me through the whole design process. She died (at the age of 16) right after I finished the final drawings. I also put three of Rebeka’s dogs in there, two by McKinney Falls. Ruby has a ball in her mouth and Lola is in the water, which is very Lola. Tango is in Garrison Park. He’s looking up at two girls at a picnic table, flirting with them.

We had a lot of interesting people that came to visit. There is a panhandler on the corner there, Ike the Panhandler. He had a dog and he would walk by, and the dog (wore) fake antlers during Christmas. He was very sweet and asked if we would put Murphy, his dog in.

We ended up doing more work than I intended. Jim (Jim Tompkins of Time Warner) was laughing too, because he asked me, “Can you put a ’57 Chevy in there?” and coincidentally, I did and put a ’57 Harley in front of it. I don’t know anything about motorcycles, and so there is this Harley Davidson, and it turns out it was Shanda's (Shanda Smith, one of the background painters) dream motorcycle. But then I saw (the real motorcycle). The guy who actually owns it came by and visited with an entire group of people with their Harleys and they took pictures (with the mural).

So, you didn’t exactly go unnoticed by the people of the community while you were painting for those six weeks?

That was the fun part. As soon as we started, people started driving through, curious about what we were doing. We had a community outpouring (of support). People would drive by, stop and talk to us, asking questions. And people started bringing us stuff. There was a car that drove by. . . and then came back and this woman got out on a crutch—very Tiny Tim, right before Christmas—and gave us a bag with sodas in it! We had people offering to buy us coffee. We had a guy that brought us hot chocolate and candy bars. There were so many that offered to help, it was really sweet. We told them we had it covered, and we were the ones who should do it.

Vaughn with assistant, Rebeka Rich.
Photo by Matt Wright

You started the project by working at night? In South Austin!?

As soon as we started, we took those drawings that I presented to Time Warner. . . and we divided them into fourths. I put them in a projector. . . and went out there at night. My friends were so excited. Some of them worked on it later (Phil Crocker, Michael Neely, Shanda Smith), but we joked that they were the “mural posse,” our groupies! They came out, thank God, because it was at night, and we didn’t realize that it might be a little weird for just me and Rebeka to work out there at night. So they hung out with us all night for three days and we did these drawings. We projected them and painted outlines with gray paint. People would come by and were like, “What are y’all doing?” People were driving by and yelling at us too. “Graffiti!” thinking we were the most anal-retentive graffiti artists, bringing our own projector and slide rule! (laughs). A lot of people thought we were kids, or thought that it was a school project, or just a hobby.

Art is your life. It’s been a lifelong passion. Can you talk about your history as an artist?

I have been drawing since I was two and I have always been interested in art. I studied art at Sam Houston and graduated in 1995. I went on to grad school at LSU where I graduated in 1999. I came (to Austin) directly afterwards and started working for faux finishing companies, doing faux finishing and murals. I was trained as a printmaker, but you can’t really make a living as a printmaker. I wanted to teach, but. . . it’s a bureaucracy. Drawing is my first love. I wasn’t getting credit the way I wanted as a painter, I wasn’t really enjoying it.

Is this what you set out to do? It seems to encapsulate all of the things that you’ve learned and love.

It does, definitely. Printmaking is very analytical and a lot about process and planning. The thing I loved about painting most was mixing the colors. I just really loved the sound of my pallet. But when I took printmaking, you put color on the glass, so that was the best of both worlds.

When I went on to graduate school and studied, I realized I would love to be a teacher, but you have to move where the job is. I couldn’t choose were I want to live. I came here and fell into the faux finishing and realized that I could paint murals. I love my job, because some days I do murals and some days I do things that are washes that are meditative. So it’s a nice mix.

Photo by Matt Wright

(Some of the things to look for on the mural: Possums in a tree; deer; cicada; screech owl; squirrel; horned lizard; the moon tower; ACC pinnacle building; owner of The Broken Spoke in front of his classic Caddy; owner of The Continental Club in his “Black Dahlia,” 1939 coup; Jimmy Vaughan’s green car by The Continental Club; of course, bats; the soup peddler; paleta ice cream man.)

Posters of the mural can be purchased at the North (Mopac & Duval) and South (South First & Stassney) Time Warner facilities for $10 with all proceeds going to American Youthworks.