“I’m not cool, people in Austin are cool, that’s why they love me!” – Yellow
The day before the hard freeze hit, we finished the mural (actually, I only helped with serving tea and documenting the process)!!
在超級寒流來襲的前一天，我們把壁畫完成了(其實我只有在旁幫忙茶水及記錄)！！
Peelander Yellow (“Yellow”) is a well-known local artist and musician(Peelander-Z) in Austin. I recommended Yellow to Coco’s Cafe to help them paint in front of the store, because I think his style is too cute and eye-catching!! Just like his personality and appearance, he has always been bold in using bright colors to paint works that are full of joy and positive energy! And it’s perfect for incorporating into the Coco’s Cafe shop right by UT campus. The only concern is not whether he will be able to create an attractive mural, but whether the client can handle his free-spiritedness.
Yellow，他是Austin在地小有名氣的藝術家及樂手。會推薦Yellow給Coco’s Cafe來幫他們店門口畫彩繪，就是覺得他的畫風太可愛也太搶眼了！！跟他的人一樣，總是能很大膽的運用鮮豔的色彩，繪出充滿了歡樂及正面能量的作品！而且非常適合結合於在大學城裡的Coco’s Cafe店面。唯一擔心的並不是他能不能畫出吸引人的畫作，而是業者能不能接受他的自由奔放。
In order to help him complete this difficult paint job, I went to five or six different tool rental companies the previous week to see if there was suitable equipment for him to complete the wall on top with less effort. Finally, I found a shop up in north Austin. After communicating back and forth, I rented a medium-sized movable scaffold at a good price. If you ever need to rent a scaffold or any lifting equipment, check out Sunbelt Rental. They are reasonably priced, thoughtful, and allow rentals for 7 days for the same price (Home Depot is more expensive than them for only one day).
為了協助他完成難度極高的上方牆面壁畫，我前一個禮拜跑了五、六間不同的工具租借公司，看是否有合適的機具可以讓他比較不費力的完成上方的壁畫。最後在北邊找到一家與店家來回溝通，在價錢可以接受的範圍內租了中型的活動鷹架。如果有需要租借小型鷹架的朋友，可以找Sunbelt Rental，價錢合理、服務周到，而且可以連續租七天同一個價錢(HomeDepot租一天的價錢還比他們貴)。
We were expecting to start the mural on Monday, but there was heavy rain in Austin that day, so we postponed it by a day (I am so glad that I didn’t rent the scaffold at Home Depot). Although it did not rain on Tuesday, the weather was cold, and after seeing the weather forecast, the hard freeze would hit on Thursday, and the temperature would drop to -7°C. So we had to finish the entire wall before then, and Yellow mentioned that if the entire wall was vertical, it shouldn’t take too much time, and watching Yellow straining with bending his neck and entire body backwards just to paint above him, it was clear that he miscalculated the difficulty of this paint job.
原本我們預計是禮拜一就要開始進行壁畫，但是Austin那天下了一場豪雨，我們延後一天進行(好險沒在HomeDepot租鷹架)。禮拜二雖然沒下雨但是天氣陰冷，而且看了氣象預報，禮拜四超級寒流來襲，氣溫會降到攝氏零下七度。所以我們必須在那之前完成整面牆，後來Yellow表示如果整個是垂直的牆面應該不需要花太多時間，看著Yellow仰著頭彎著腰在畫上方牆壁的表情痛苦猙獰，就知道他錯估了畫這面牆的難度了。
On the first day, Caroline and I went to Coco’s Cafe to assist Yellow in preparing for the mural job after we dropped the kids off at school . It’s actually one of the projects that is quietly underway at Much Love Crew; Coco’s Cafe is one of the stores we’re currently helping to redesign their corporate brand, and Yellow is an artist we’ll want to collaborate with later.
第一天Caroline跟我也在載孩子們去學校後，一起到Coco’s Cafe協助Yellow的前置作業。其實這算是Much Love Crew其中一項默默在進行中的任務，Coco’s Cafe是目前我們正在協助重新設計企業品牌形象的店面之一，而 Yellow也會是我們之後會想要結盟合作的藝術家。
Two days of mural creation went very smoothly, and many of Yellow’s fans stopped to take pictures of him and ask for autographs. I told him, “You’re so cool, like a celebrity!” He replied, “I’m not cool, people in Austin are cool, that’s why they love me!” In my mind, he is a super friendly and humble rock star full of sunshine!
這兩天的過程，非常的順利，一直有Yellow的粉絲停下來找他拍照、索取簽名。我跟他說，”你真的很酷耶！像個明星！” 他回答：”我不酷，是Austin的人們很酷，所以他們會愛我！” 在我心目中他就是一個充滿陽光及平易近人的搖滾巨星！
Thanks to the help from Coco’s Cafe staff and the delicious food and drinks to keep our tummy and heart warm at all times! I will continue to share with you the progress of the Coco’s Cafe brand redesign. Before that, please go visit Coco’s Cafe to enjoy authentic Taiwanese comfort food and delicious bubble tea (boba)! If you ever pass by Coco’s Cafe on Guadalupe, don’t forget to check in, take photos, and share Yellow’s mural art at Coco’s Cafe with all your friends.
感謝Coco’s Cafe人員的協助及美味的餐飲，讓我們的肚子跟心中一直暖暖的！之後，我也會陸續跟大家分享目前幫忙重新打造 Coco’s Cafe品牌設計的進度。在這之前，請大家有機會去Coco’s Cafe享受台灣美食及好喝的珍珠奶茶！有經過Coco’s Cafe Guadalupe 的朋友，也記得幫忙打卡拍照，跟大家分享 Yellow 的彩繪藝術。