For local mural artist Paul Archer, it has always been about spreading positive messages.

His favourite place is high up on a scaffold, out of everyoneB次元官网网址檚 way, with Bob Marley music blasting and a large unfinished mural before him. He called it his personal therapy.

Born in England on Christmas Day to a Mary Magdalene and church minister, Archer was already famous at birth and came with his family to Canada in 1966 at age three. First drawing Batman characters he saw on TV, Archer had a clear talent and passion for art that his parents supported wholeheartedly.

While airbrushing t-shirts in Victoria for tourists, he was invited by a New York City nightclub owner to paint before a live audience and decided to broaden his focus. To date, his work has taken him throughout the Caribbean, from airbrushing for Hard Rock Cafe to depicting wildlife in the Costa Rican jungle.

Prior to COVID-19, Archer gifted 120 prints at the 2020 Academy Awards and was invited by Beverly DB次元官网网址橝ngelo and Al Pacino to create murals in Los Angeles.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not about the money for me,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 just want to do what I love.B次元官网网址�

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Archer estimates he has completed about 15,000 pieces, most of them murals, with his highest at 18 storeys and widest at 200 feet.

He credited mother nature for always complying with his work, recalling that the wind always died down when he worked on a scaffold with no harness doing a high-rise building mural in Vancouver.

A group he started called Guns and Hoses has done work on the Vancouver Planetarium, Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver Airport, Canuck Place, Vancouver Canucks dressing room, BC Place, Virgin Megastore and CFOX.

Through his work, Archer has met such celebrities as Dwayne B次元官网网址榯he RockB次元官网网址� Johnson, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Sean Connery, Lenny Kravitz, Bob MarleyB次元官网网址檚 sons and Cheech and Chong.

The Eddie Van Halen mural on the back of ArcherB次元官网网址檚 business, Archer Airbrushing, is, to his knowledge the worldB次元官网网址檚 first mural of the late rock guitarist and was done just two weeks after his passing. A close friend, Archer described Van Halen as B次元官网网址渢he Mozart of our eraB次元官网网址� and chose to honour him on his own building after not hearing back from other businesses he reached out to.

Archer prefers realism over abstract work, with a particular interest in portraiture. He has painted objects as unique as toilets and artificial limbs, and locations as diverse as funerals, glory holes, childrenB次元官网网址檚 hospitals, stripclubs and churches.

B次元官网网址淭hat also keeps me going, too, because every job is so different,B次元官网网址� he said, adding that most clients trust him to know what is best for their mural.

Usually refraining from political artwork, Archer likes to focus on unity, children, nature and positive messages.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 starting a trend of just putting up colourful, pretty, beautiful, positive messages that I think are what masses of people need right now, especially people in lockdown or people with mental health issues. You need something to brighten up their day.B次元官网网址�

Despite having made a name for himself around the world, Archer hopes to contribute more to VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 art scene.

B次元官网网址淵ou see some of the big murals that have been around for a few years downtown and theyB次元官网网址檙e just a mess, and a lot of it is in the prep,B次元官网网址� he said, adding that re-clear coating and cleaning the mural in following years can also help.

The murals he airbrushed in the Cayman Islands, however, still looked great after being hit by a Category 5 hurricane.

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Archer said he felt grateful to be nominated as best visual artist in this yearB次元官网网址檚 Best of the City celebration, saying the honour was beyond him.

He recently set off on a provincewide road trip with his team and dog, Lannah, to airbrush murals around mainland B.C.

B次元官网网址淎 lot of the time, IB次元官网网址檒l just hop out of the truck and say B次元官网网址榮et up, IB次元官网网址檓 going to paint that little wall, right there, right nowB次元官网网址� and you just do a little 8x10 wall B次元官网网址� and the next thing thing you know, youB次元官网网址檝e got the whole city lined up for more.B次元官网网址�

Archer currently has projects underway in Grand Forks, Penticton, Cranbrook and various smaller towns, along with a potential project happening in Summerland in response to an instance of graffiti hate crime.

B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檝e got to use [this talent] the right way and spread the love,B次元官网网址� he remarked. B次元官网网址淚 call it B次元官网网址榩aint it forward.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

To see more of ArcherB次元官网网址檚 work, visit .

For more stories from our annual Best of the City publication, . You can also find the special publication .

Do you have a story tip? Email: vnc.editorial@blackpress.ca.

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