Though she now lives outside of Atlanta, Arndts, 38, travels often to Dayton for mural work and considers it a home base. “I have deep roots in Dayton. The work constantly brings me back there. I’m there probably 6 months out of the year.”
Arndts’ next project is a massive 24- by 80-foot mural for SHAG Studios, a salon opening soon at 1126 S. Main St. in Dayton.
FREE SPIRIT
“I move around a lot!,” says Arndts , who counts Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Tulum, Mexico, among the places she has called home since graduating from Centerville High School.
“I moved to Tulum in 2018. I drove down with my two cats and dog and lived there for a year and a half. I immersed myself in the culture, living with local people. You just meet people from all over the world down there. I continue to travel there every other month. I absolutely love it.”
ART START
“I was always drawing and painting as a kid,” says Arndts . Her parents recognized their daughter’s talent. “They were always encouraging me. In high school, I really started leaning into painting classes and took every art class I could and was like, I belong here, this is my niche.”
“I started painting my bedroom walls in high school just for fun, things like butterflies and flowers. I didn’t think much of it. When I moved to Atlanta, I got connected with some street artists and got my first mural job, just from people seeing my artwork. I built a web of constant new clients. It just took off.” Arndts started painting full time in 2015. Her favorite subjects are “greenery, nature, jaguars, wildlife.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
LOCAL WORK
“I painted a huge mural on the side of the Plaza Theatre (in Miamisburg). It’s at least 40 feet tall and 100 feet wide. John Wayne, Princess Leia, Paul Newman, Dorothy, Charlie Chaplin. Across the street from that is a creative design agency, and I painted a huge mural of a bunch of rock and roll musicians all spread out on this one wall.”
In downtown Dayton, “I have the Winston Churchill on the Stratacache Towers. I have two murals at that building and am going back at the end of July to paint my third mural there.”
EARLY BIRD
“My family lives in Centerville, so I stay with them while I paint. I wake up super early, between 4 and 5 a.m. I drink coffee for a long time. I don’t like to be rushed in the morning, so I like to wake up before the sun comes up. I’m just wired as a morning person. Having 5-6 hours of sleep for me is perfect. I spring out of bed and hang out with my puppy, George. I’ll look at the (mural) design from the night before to tackle the next part.”
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
“I design on Photoshop. I’ve done a scribble method where you put shapes all over the wall. A lot of projects I’ll use a projector, so you project the design on to the wall and you get your outline and fill it in. Clients love to see the design projected so they know what it looks like. I’m always prepared to freehand a mural in case the projector doesn’t work, if there’s too much lighting or weather isn’t cooperating.”
CARNIVORE
“I’m weird, I have an interesting eating lifestyle. I eat one meal a day, maybe two. I eat like a carnivore, mostly meat, eggs, butter. I can’t stop while I’m working. I’ll try not to eat because it’ll make me tired. I’ll drink coffee and water. Then I’ll have a meal at the end of my day.”
LIKE A GIRL
“If there’s anything I need, I go to the local Sherwin-Williams store in Centerville. I have my go-to art store for spray paint, Bezaro. I use Vandalia Rental for lift equipment. I’m certified to operate a lift. One of those weird things you don’t expect to be doing in your life! You’d never expect that from a girl.”
GET PHYSICAL
“The roller is a great upper body workout. I have really strong arms. After a day of spray painting for 6-8 hours, my hands are sore. I’ll paint with both hands, give one hand a break. I do a lot of hand exercises, I’ll go to saunas, just to keep my body in the best condition I can. You’re around a lot of toxic materials. I wear a mask as much as I can when I spray paint. The heat can be suffocating, so I’ll hold my breath, spray and walk away.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
IN THE HEIGHTS
“I’m not afraid of heights. I was a gymnast growing up, so I’m used to being up in the air and flipping around. It’s actually really peaceful working up there. You’re up high, it’s usually a beautiful day.”
LOGISTICS
“I ease my way into the sun every year. For walls that are in the direct sun all day, I work early morning and evening and try to stay out of that killer afternoon sun when possible. If the sun’s coming up over the building, it’s gonna be in my face at 11. I take a break and then I see when the sun will be on my back.”
KEEP IT LOCAL
“Anywhere I’m working, I’ll see if there’s anywhere walkable that I can go check out. I always explore local eateries, coffee shops, art stores. This last (mural), I went to the Gem City Catfé. Yay! I went and played with cats and had a coffee.”
IN THE GROOVE
“When you get into your groove, you don’t want to stop. If the weather’s great, you’re gonna keep going until your hand wants to fall off. If I start at 8 in the morning I work until 4 or 5.” She makes time for family, though. “My nieces and nephews will usually come to the job site and help me paint for a day.”
SCRUB A DUB
“Then I go home to my parents’ house, take a very long shower to get all the paint off. I don’t wear gloves because they stick to your spray paint can, and I use my hands a lot when I paint to blend colors. Getting paint off your hands is a task. I always say, I’ll never have pretty nails because of my job.”
TO DIE FOR
“Then it’s food. I’ll eat a steak or cheeseburger, something very hardy. When I was painting the mural in Miamisburg, I would go to this one bar called Bennett’s Publical Family Sports Grill. The ‘chest cracker’ cheeseburger is to die for. I got it probably every day for two weeks. If I eat a hardy dinner, then it’s used as fuel for the next day.”
Zzz
“I’ll catch up with my parents. Then I just want to pass out. I’m so mentally and physically drained. At nighttime, when it starts to get dark, I turn into a pumpkin.”
UP NEXT
“It’s very retro, sun rays coming out of the center,” says Arndts of the SHAG mural, which will brighten up a stretch of South Main between Miami Valley Hospital and the new Roger Glass Center for the Arts. Though she works solo, she loves the community aspect of murals. “I think it’s important for artists to share their process. If you have something you can share, why not inspire other people?”
Find out more about Erica Arndts’ work at https://ericaarndts.com/
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