Brush strokes of color around town

Music and art come together for Petaluma artist|

George Utrilla, better known as ‘The Random Artist,’ is anything but random.

If he could, he’d paint nonstop. On his Facebook page, it’s not unusual to have him announce at 11 a.m., “It’s Paint o’clock,” and not stop work until the next day’s sun is rising.

“I always intended to be an artist,” he said. “In first grade, I was the best at stick figures.”

As a junior at Terra Linda High School, he went to work at Aaron Brothers. “In a year and half,” he said, “I went from clerk to head framer with no training except what I learned from watching the other framers.”

He was there three years. By then, he knew, “college wouldn’t teach me what I needed - I’d already learned it: from books and just by doing it.”

An 18-month stint at Pixar followed. Next up: videography, photography and several years working weddings when, he joked, he tried to be both videographer and photographer. “I was good at it, but it was too much stress.”

That was his cue. “I ran back to art.”

Now he’s a noted live painter, having done gigs all around town, including the Hideaway, Andy’s Sushi, Zodiacs, the Find and the Mystic.

What’s inspiring him most these days is painting to live music. He recently toured with hip-hop duo Zion I and has a gig coming up with reggae-influenced hip-hoppers Los Rakas at the prestigious Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

He said his career changed after appearing at last year’s Cali Roots reggae festival in Monterey. “I was painting on the same stage as Jimi Hendrix - it was one of the coolest things.” He’ll repeat the experience next month, returning to Cali Roots.

He can’t wait. Painting in front of a crowd of thousands, he said, “is the biggest thrill, close to being a rock star.”

Another change came while painting at Zodiacs when he realized different crowds of music fans like different types of art. “I can tell by the band what style is needed.” And yes, he can paint and dance at the same time.

Is there any music he doesn’t like to paint to? “Probably country. I never got into it. And it doesn’t mix with any of my styles.”

Where did the name come from? “The Random Artist started with my ex-girlfriend,” Utrilla explained. “She said my personality is just random, it goes to my art, my personality is my art - it’s everywhere.”

The Random Artist, predictably, doesn’t have one style but many. He can go from surreal landscape to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle; Jessica Rabbit to the Golden Gate Bridge; fantasy moonscape to somber black and white portrait; splashy abstract to finely detailed elephant. Or, he can combine all of these into one glorious jumble of painted crazy quilt.

Utrilla began painting live at 19 Broadway nightclub in Fairfax. “A friend asked if I could paint in front of people. I said I could give it a try. I was nervous, but not nervous.” It wasn’t being watched that made him apprehensive, he explained, it was whether he could create a piece, beginning to end, in one stand-up session.

As it turned out, he could. He was on his way.

He recently relocated his studio to what was, a century ago, the Petaluma Police Department stables, on North Water Street. The new location has contributed another dimension to his artistic stable of styles, he said. He hadn’t known about the previous equine occupants until he inexplicably began dreaming about horses and asked around. “Sometimes,” he said with a smile, “I’ll hear steps outside, but there’ll be no one there.”

Rather than being troubled by the ghosts, he enjoys them. “It’s spiritual, like someone is watching me.” And when he talked about creating his first painting in the new studio, he smiled again. “I was showing off for the ghosts.”

To find out more, visit randomartiststudio.com or check out his Facebook page, The Randomartist.

(Contact Katie Watts at argus@arguscourier.com)

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