You may have seen my national TV commercial throughout 2019, for the company “LIFEWTR.” This water company’s message truly knocks all the others out of the park, as they strongly believe in the power of art for children. If you didn’t see the commercial, here is the clip... and here is the full, longer version.

I wanted to take a minute to tell you the backstory of how this once in a “LIFEtime” opportunity came to be...

At the end of 2018, an ad agency reached out to me that they liked my work and wanted to see if I wanted to be in the running of several other artists to create a mural at an elementary school in Florida City. They said it would be in collaboration with LIFEWTR, in their efforts to bring the arts back into schools. Of course I was on board, as taking art classes in elementary school is what started my love for art and painting.

There were several artists they would be choosing from and four in total would be chosen. On December 20, 2018 I was in New York city with my mom, and went to see a taping of Jimmy Fallon’s tonight show. He’s one of my favorite celebrities and it was on my actual birthday that I got to see him. Once the taping ended and I was able to turn my cell phone back on, I had an email letting me know that LIFEWTR had chosen me as one of the artists for their campaign.A great birthday gift indeed!

Within two weeks, I was on site at the elementary school with a production crew of about 30 people. I had four cameras on me at all times (go pros, drones, time lapse, and real time) and I hit the ground running. I completed this 36 foot mural over the course of a week during Christmas break. I was there the day the children came back from Christmas break and the whole thing was recorded to see the reaction they had when they saw new artwork around the school. It was the best day!

About two months later I had a solo exhibit at a hotel on Miami Beach. During the opening reception, I happened to check my phone and saw an email that LIFEWTR wanted to take the making of my mural and turn it into a Primetime TV commercial for the next nine months. This was so exciting and it was so cool to be sitting on my own couch casually watching TV and having my commercial pop up all the time!

LIFEWTR spent that year giving art kits to schools, teacher grants, and beautified many schools around the country. And if you haven’t seen their water bottles before, each one has a unique piece of art printed onto it! They truly support art and artists. A bunch of celebrities even helped with this campaign, including Lucy Liu and Macklemore. The whole experience was an honor.

Would love to hear from you if you remember seeing this commercial!? Please let me know!

*Behind the scenes: