Why I swapped my laptop for a ladder
For years, I’ve built brands from behind a desk, shaping colour palettes, tweaking logos, and crafting campaigns. But something was missing — I craved texture, movement, and scale. I wanted to create work that lived out in the world, not just on screens, and wondered if my lettering could translate onto larger-scale surfaces. In 2018, using relatively few materials, I painted a 6-metre fence to produce Thrive, the dynamic mural shown below. It was messy and not as detailed as I’d have liked, but I loved how the phrase and colour transformed the space. The energy of the surroundings shifted — it felt vibrant, alive, and thoroughly complemented the surrounding treescape. I could see an opportunity to combine my passion for lettering with a love of colour, place, and community.
In 2020, I created the Fantasize animation in celebration of Coca-Cola’s summer thirst-quencher, Fanta. As a kid, Fanta was my favourite drink and I thought the wordplay of the large-size phrase as a large-size mural was catchy and commercially appealing.
But it wasn’t until 2024 when I relocated back to the Gold Coast that I had the space and time to make murals my commercial focus. I enrolled in the City of Gold Coast Creative Arts Incubator Program funded by RADF, and was accepted with ten other artists. Course convenor, Michael Doneman from Edgeware, helped me fine-tune my value proposition which is: what I do, why I do it and what differentiates me from the competition. Tania Hearn is a muralist who paints uplifting designs for schools and local businesses. Unlike AI-generated designs, Tania brings a human touch that transforms ideas into impactful, one-of-a-kind visuals.
Mobile mural created for Gold Coast City Council’s Creative Gold cultural event.
At the end of the Incubator Program, participants held a graduation ceremony and presented their creative businesses. I showcased a mural that was colourful, fit into the space and was commercially viable. Coastal Futures embodied sunset vibes and featured Gold Coast icons of water, sunshine and coastline. The 5.76sqm design was painted on two large sheets of 3ml ply, making it easy to carry, transport and position. Nailed onto a 3-metre wide backdrop from the fabulous team at Kool Kombi event hire, the mobile mural reminded me that not all murals need to be oversized to be impactful. Small locally-made murals are perfect for pop-up events and brand activations.
Toward the end of the Incubator Program, I enrolled in Patrycja Hannagan’s Mural Nomad course, a step-by-step guide to building a profitable mural business. I learnt the importance of outreach and growing my portfolio, then doing more outreach. With the Olympics approaching in 2032, South East Queensland is bursting with opportunities for storytelling through space. It’s where culture, small business, and sunshine collide, meaning there’s endless room to create beauty in unexpected places.
‘Woonoongoora’ mural for a café proposal. Woonoongoora highlights rare flora and fauna found in the Gondwana rainforest of Lamington National Park, which is recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Area for its outstanding universal value.
My latest creation is a mural for a café proposal at Woonoongoora (Lamington National Park) featuring rare species including a pademelon, crimson rosella, and Richmond birdwing butterfly. With tourism booming and businesses fighting to be seen, murals have become more than art — they are a competitive edge inviting you to engage and stay a while.
My goal in the coming year is to transform more walls across the Gold Coast and beyond, to grow what began as a personal experiment into a creative practice grounded in story, surface, community and colour.
I’m still designing, just with bigger brushes.
