“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)!!
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.
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).
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.
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.
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!
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.