Meet Helen Snell | Owner and Muralist for Peak Murals

We had the good fortune of connecting with Helen Snell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Helen, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wanted to do something I loved and have creative freedom when I pursued my career. I’ve been painting murals since high school, but have always done it as a hobby, not thinking that I could make a career out of it. I helped with my first mural in my senior year of high school, I painted my rooms, painted my friends rooms in college, and found that I was happiest in painting on the largest “canvas” available. My professors in college would set a size minimum for a project and I would triple it. Or use an entire wall for my work and wouldn’t even bat an eye at the daunting size of what I created. But those projects were always for fun, pushing myself outside the box as every art professor will tell you to do. After college, I focused on my dream career of being an SFX makeup artist for film and television. In five years, I had accomplished my goal of having my name in the credits as a mould maker for the makeup department. At that point, I had what I perceived as two options in front of me. I could continue to be a mould maker, maybe advancing to a sculptor in the film industry in 10+ years (which had been a goal all along) or I could start down my own path and take a big leap into the unknown. It really wasn’t a hard decision for me. I’ve always been a fan of leaping, so I did. A friend of mine wanted to repaint her master bedroom and asked me to help. I asked if she’d like a mural to go along with it and she agreed wholehartedly. With that one mural, sitting there and painting leaves and dandelions across her room, I thought to myself, why not do this? Painting murals has always been fun for me, I should take a stab at this and see if I can create a business from this.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
There have been two major players in what makes me who I am. I have this incredible love of art and for learning new ways to express my thoughts to the world. I’ve been through so many mediums, from sculpting, drawing, animating and painting, to fashion design, costuming and SFX makeup. I’ve been a cake decorator, a mould maker, and a plein air artist. I create in so many ways and I strive to interlace all of those techniques together. On the other hand, I am an athlete and outdoor enthusiast. I rock climb, kayak, hike, camp, ski and bike. I’ve played ice hockey, been a climbing instructor, a white water raft guide, and a ski patroller. I’ve broken bones, had concussions, and generally tried to push the boundaries of what a female could do. I have this tough side of someone who would happily trek across the land in any environment, and yet have the ability to sit, surrounded by nature, and paint the world as I see it. These two sides to me intertwine constantly, and I feel as if I have a diverse library in my mind to draw inspiration from because of the adventures I have had.

I am still not done with expanding my mural knowledge. The act of painting on wall is fairly straightforward. Now that I have that skill set, my challenge is to start incorporating my other talents and combine those with murals. I have many ideas in the works, some of which needs education in new fields. I can’t wait to start, as another skill to add to my toolbox is something I deeply cherish.

A big lesson I have learned is that there are always lessons to be learned! In every mural I have done, there were areas that were harder to render than others, or I found that a new piece of equipment needed to be bought, or a new skill needed to be learned. Every mural is an opportunity to grow, and while it may be frustrating in the moment to work through the problem, I come out better for it on the other side.

Looking back on all the choices I made through the years to get to this point, most of what made my career was reaching out to people. It wasn’t the people that I knew well, but rather those that were a friend of a friend, or had been directed towards by some other person. While it may seem like a simple thing to reach out, sometimes it isn’t. Whether it be lack of confidence, too shy, or brushing it off as “oh, there’s no way this person is going to help a stranger,” I actually found that when I could push that all aside, I reaped major rewards from doing so. I got my first makeup internship that lead to a plethora of other opportunities through a phone call to a person I didn’t even know. I made it into a film industry job through a stand in professor I had studied under for only a few weeks. She sent me a Facebook listing of another person I didn’t know and even though I felt unqualified, I ended up being hired. Take those leaps, reach out to those people. Taking the initiative and showing the drive and passion speaks a lot about yourself and will get you farther than you think.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh I love this question. I hope my friends are up for some good outdoor quality time! California has been an incredible place to live in the last 3 years. Moving from Maryland, all the way across the country, I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t really visited the desert before, or live so close to the ocean, or even had many accessible mountains that had significant altitude. In coming here, I had my breath taken away.

We could sleep under the starry skies at Joshua. We could hike under the sequoias, and see the wildflowers bloom in Death Valley. We could ski one day, and be at the beach the next. We could be a tourist and hike the Hollywood sign or drive down to San Diego to see the zoo. We could bike from Long Beach all the way to Balboa pier and back, stopping in Seal Beach for some ice cream. How about a play in DTLA? Or some rock climbing in Malibu? We could climb indoors at any of the climbing gyms here in the city, so that we could teach you the ropes. Would you like to see art at the Getty? Or travel a bit further and we could paint our own at Vasquez Rocks? If the Capitals are in LA for a hockey game, we could go watch them take on the Kings. Don’t even get me started on the food! Have you ever had fries in a burrito? Or tried potatoes from a food truck? Concha bread for breakfast and a churro for dessert as we watch the sunset over the ocean? The possibilities are endless, and there’s too much to do for just a week…would you like to stay for two?

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family and friends, without a doubt, are a major part of why my business has been a success so far. So many have offered me their walls to paint when I needed to build up a portfolio. They have spread the word and have gotten neighbors, friends and businesses to reach out to me for mural opportunities. It’s like I have my very own army of marketers, all intent on doing whatever small thing they can to encourage the growth of Peak Murals. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I have always looked up to my mother, who ran her own graphic design business. She gave me the courage to pursue art as a career and not be deterred by the “starving artist” saying that we all hear when striking out in this sort of endeavor. She is always there to offer words of encouragement, critique and guidance through every step of the journey. I will never be able to thank her enough for all her support.

Despite my optimism and excellent start to Peak Murals, I wouldn’t have been able to dedicate as much time as I have to growing this if it weren’t for Ben. There is something to be said for having a partner who supports you when you decide to strike out on a path of your dreams, and Ben has made that trek so much easier than it could have been.

Website: Www.peakmurals.com

Instagram: @peak.murals