The Graff Lab invited me out for “The Gift of Life” — a kidney disease awareness event hosted in partnership with UCLA. Big Sleeps was there. He’s an LA native, tattoo artist, lettering artist, and muralist with a reputation that runs deep in this city.

I showed up with three brushes, three colors, and a wall that was 16 feet wide by 10 feet tall.

The Piece

Every wall at the Graff Lab is spray paint. Mine was the only one done entirely by brush. It was also the only one built around a formal structure, a mandala, three concentric rings pulling inward to a single point.

The outer ring carries the words “The Gift of Life” across all three layers: Pharaoh gold, dark smoke gray, and chrome. Each ring is a separate color, but they read as one movement when you step back. The smoke gray sits between the gold and chrome intentionally. On a black background, dark on dark reads quiet. It lets the eye rest before it hits the contrast of white, gold, and chrome layered on top.

The center says one word: Life.

That’s the focal point. Everything else orbits it. Because at the end of the day, no matter what we’re chasing, no matter what our plans are, life is what it all comes back to.

The Palette

I used my signature palette for this one. Modern Masters metallics: Pharaoh gold as the primary, chrome as the secondary, dark smoke gray as the tertiary, white for highlights. I don’t deviate from this often. When I do, there’s a reason. When I don’t, it’s because the palette already says what needs to be said.

The Day

Six hours. Start to finish.

My dad helped me prep the wall. My four-year-old son painted beside me the entire time. He’s been showing up to art walks and live events with me since he could hold a brush. People stopped to watch. Some asked me to sign their black books. Some handed me boxes to tag, products they’d purchased at the event, wanting something from the moment.

That’s what live art does. It creates a moment people want to hold onto.

What It Means

The art scene here operates at a different level than what I work in most of the time in OC. I knew that going in. I painted my signature palette, my signature structure, in a space full of spray paint legends, and it held its own.

The Graff Lab director, Ricky, is now in early discussions with me about a second wall. 100 feet wide. 30 feet tall. Nothing is confirmed. But the conversation is happening.