Costanzo Creative

Every child on this Earth becomes acquainted with it’s wonders through the acquisition of language. Verbal language, or the way in which we string together words in order to do things like describe our needs and ask important questions, allows us to interface with others as we go about the doings of our day. Words, however, can only go so far in expressing the enormity of an emotion, or conveying the importance of an idea. Sometimes, the language of art proves to be just as, if not more, effective than that of the spoken word.

Brittany Costanzo, of Costanzo Creative, considers herself lucky that the language of art was one shown, and encouraged to her by her parents at a young age. They fostered a creative home life for she and her siblings and her mom, in particular, had no problem letting them take over the kitchen table with markers and clay or any other sort of craft they could get their hands on. She also remembers one of her fondest childhood memories being that when he dad’s best friend, Mike Erickson, who was a cartoonist, would come over and spend time sketching with she and her siblings.

“He would take our requests for the craziest, most outlandish things we could come up with and then he would bring those requests to life in the most incredible little cartoon doodles,” she remembers.

“I think that he, along with my parents of course, played a really significant role in the reason my siblings and I love to draw so much.”

Growing up in Santa Cruz, there is no shortage of natural beauty for inspiration, so as a kid, Costanzo really liked getting outside to sketch whenever possible. While in school, she was always most excited about the projects that involved art and says that she would always find ways to incorporate art or illustrations into her work as a way to better understand what she was learning. She believes that this practice is what led to her interest in art and undoubtedly influenced her decision to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Visual Culture from UCSC and later, a certification in Scientific Illustration from CSUMB.

“While I was a student at UCSC I had the opportunity to teach classical art lessons to children and adults at a wonderful local art studio called Drawn2Art,” she recalls. 

“It was during that time that I discovered now fulfilling it was to teach others how to draw and paint.”

Now, Costanzo is inspiring kids everyday with her latest mural offering at Soquel Elementary, which highlights the importance of our natural world in a fun and colorful way. Using her artistic language, she’s planting a seed in the mind’s of tomorrow, one that will hopefully continue to take root and grow for years to come.

“As an artist I value the ability to use visual art as a tool to teach and inspire others of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds.  One of my goals is to find fun and imaginative methods to connect with the natural world, and to also find ways to connect the community through a shared appreciation for art, learning and our environment.”

I recently caught up with the prolifically positive pintadora to get further insight into her methods and approach to this stunning piece of visual education. Enjoy!

This mural was designed for the Soquel Elementary community. The garden teacher at the time, Megan McElroy, came up with the idea of adding a mural to their garden space and quickly got the ball rolling to make that happen. I later met with Megan to brainstorm ideas and together, we thought it would be really fun to create something that not only involved the student body in the planning process, but also included a design that was engaging and possibly educational at the same time. We really wanted this mural to not only add to the existing beauty of the garden, but to also help create a rich and meaningful place to gather and learn. 

It was intended to create a space for students, grade K-5, to learn about the basic components of a garden ecosystem. It was designed in a way that would hopefully educate students on the inner workings of the garden and also encourage them to get up close and personal with the natural world. This project was unique for me in that we actually created a basic garden curriculum, including lessons and activities about science and nature using themes from the mural. The curriculum is broken down into four basic themes: Patterns in Nature, Garden ecosystems and life cycles, Botanical breakdown and Pollination.  

While making this, we tried to evoke a sense of curiosity and inclusion. This mural design and concept represent the imagination of the entire Soquel Elementary student body. Each student, grades TK-5, was asked to sketch their own version of the Soquel Garden Mural. Their ideas and sketches were the foundation for the design. It was very important to both Megan and myself to make sure the kids not only felt like their input was heard, but for them to also see their ideas and drawings represented within the mural.  

I did all of the preliminary design work in my sketchbook and Adobe Illustrator.  The actual mural was painted with Behr Exterior house paint. I tried my best to incorporate as many of the common elements from the students as possible. The majority of their sketches included giant flowers, plants growing above and below the surface, garden critters (bugs, birds, snakes, etc.) and mushrooms. The text at the bottom, “watch us grow” came from one of their sketches. 

After meeting with Megan, and going through all of the student sketches, I began sketching out a general composition in my sketchbook, then later brought that into Adobe Illustrator.  Megan and I worked together on a few revisions, then we presented two options to the Soquel Elementary staff.  Based off their input, we continued to refine the design until we settled on something that worked for everyone.  Once we got the green light to start, the actual installation took 3-4 weeks.

I’m so fortunate to have the most incredible family who never hesitate to step in and support me in all of my artistic endeavors.  There were a ton of unforeseen steps in the installation process and there is no way I’d be able to accomplish any of these large projects without their help and continuous encouragement.  My two sisters, Nicole and Tina, helped from start to finish with prepping the wall surface, leveling the ground, meeting me at 10pm to project and sketch my design on the wall— the list goes on.  I also had a bunch of help from a few talented friends who came out periodically to help with the painting (Bridget Bailey, Kristen Burroughs, Taylor Friend), and not to mention the handful of students who came by to paint a few things of their own as well.  

While I’m painting, I usually listen to Santa Cruz Voice. I always start my mornings off with Rosie and Bill on their morning show and I try not to miss the Dr. and Mrs. Future show. 

Like any other artist, I’m continuously inspired by what is around me. I would take occasional painting breaks to stretch and just walk around the garden. As a result, I was constantly fighting the urge to include literally every plant, insect, or animal that I noticed. Side note- have you ever seen a Great blue heron completely chow down on a gopher? I saw this happen almost daily and had no idea they were such effective gopher hunters. I would also notice something like a perfect tendril on a pumpkin vine and say, ok we need more tendrils. Or I’d ask myself why I didn’t include corn? I have a hard time with calling a project complete. There will always be more I would have liked to add, or things I wished I painted differently, but at some point, you just have to call it. 

It’s hard to pin point the most enjoyable part. Honestly, this entire project was really heartwarming from start to finish. I loved the enthusiasm from the kids and was so inspired by all of their artwork. My daughter is a student there and she also helped a bunch with the planning and painting, which was really special for both of us. I really loved spending so much time in the amazing garden that Megan created with and for the students. If I had to choose, I think the most enjoyable part would probably be just making the mural happen. This project was in the works for about two years and it involved a lot of help and support from the community, the Home and School Club, the staff and mainly Megan McElroy. So many people made it possible and just being able to actually bring this idea to life as the culmination of everyone’s persistence and tenacity, it really evoked for me personally, a sense of community and togetherness. 

I’m pleased that we were able to pull it off and that it represents what we envisioned. I hope that it brings some joy to the community and sparks a little interest in art, science, and the natural world. 

Be sure to follow Brittany on Instagram @costanzo_creative

Or her website! www.costanzocreative.com