{"id":4547,"date":"2025-07-12T15:36:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T15:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/4547\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T15:36:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T15:36:04","slug":"meet-the-artist-behind-staten-islands-sticker-like-storefront-murals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/4547\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the artist behind Staten Island\u2019s sticker-like storefront murals"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — If you\u2019ve ever spotted a storefront on Staten Island decked out with bright, cartoon-like characters and lettering with a sticker-like finish, chances are it was hand-painted by Mish.<\/p>\n

The self-taught Staten Island artist behind Paint by Mish<\/a> never set out to become a full-time artist. Though she was always interested in the arts growing up, she became a mother at 21, enrolled in court reporting school while pregnant with her second daughter, and worked a string of jobs to support her family as a single mother. <\/p>\n

Between 2012 and 2014, Mish experienced a series of devastating losses that shifted her priorities and career path. In 2012, her grandmother and aunt were killed in a car crash. The following year, a close friend \u2014 someone she considered like a brother \u2014 died by suicide. Then in 2014, her father died of a rare disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want my kids to grow up seeing me doing something that didn\u2019t make me happy and being miserable coming home every day,\u201d Mish told the Advance\/SILive.com. \u201cLife is short. You only have so much time here, so you gotta do something that you love.\u201d<\/p>\n

That \u201csomething\u201d for Mish started with face paint. In October 2013, she painted her and her daughter\u2019s faces for Bloomingdale Park\u2019s Halloween Extravaganza. It wasn\u2019t the first time \u2014 face painting had been part of her family\u2019s Halloween tradition growing up, thanks to her mom \u2014 but this time was different. Strangers complimented her work, and after everything she\u2019d just gone through, the reaction gave her a spark to start exploring face painting more seriously from there. <\/p>\n

She then taught herself henna, airbrush and eventually window painting, the latter of which she learned by watching YouTube videos, especially tutorials from Scot Campbell<\/a> \u2014 an artist she refers to as the \u201cking of window painting.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"PaintPaint by Mish and one of her window displays.Courtesy of Paint By Mish<\/p>\n

Mish continued taking on commission-based work under the Paint by Mish name after the 2013 Halloween event, though it remained a side hustle while she worked other jobs to pay the bills. In 2019, she began working overnight shifts at an Amazon facility, working long hours while still making time for gigs during the day, until she quit after two months and decided to go all in on Paint by Mish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t stomach working as hard as I was and being miserable,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I left [Amazon], I said I would never work this hard for anybody ever again in my life. I\u2019ve only worked for Paint by Mish since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now 38 years old, Mish still takes on party gigs and face painting, but window murals are what keeps her busiest. She freehands every piece, mostly across New York and New Jersey, and finishes each one with her unofficial signature: a crisp white airbrush outline that gives each piece a clean, pop-art edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to feel like I never had a style, and now when people see my windows, they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, Mish did that,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnytime somebody says that something looks like a sticker or if they didn\u2019t see me painting it, they wouldn\u2019t have known it was painted, that\u2019s a huge compliment. That means that I do my job right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PaintPaint by Mish and one of her window displays.Courtesy of Paint By Mish<\/p>\n

Mish is especially in demand during seasonal moments \u2014 back-to-school, the holidays, seasonal transitions \u2014 but some clients keep her work up year-round. Others call her back every few months for a refresh.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t guarantee that anything is going to last because it\u2019s outside, right?\u201d she said. \u201cBut I have jobs that have been up six years that look completely untouched.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a full-circle moment, Amazon ended up reaching out to her in 2020 \u2014 this time not as an employee, but as a commissioned artist. The company was looking for someone to paint their windows and found her through recommendations, unaware that she\u2019d once worked there. <\/p>\n

She has since painted several Amazon buildings throughout New York and New Jersey, appreciating most the reactions from employees coming in and out of the buildings she had once worked in herself.<\/p>\n

\u201c[At the time] it was the hype and excitement and dopamine rush of like, \u2018Wow, Amazon came and found me. How cool is this?\u2019\u201d Mish said. \u201cBut I like the employees\u2019 reactions. That always meant so much to me because they\u2019re going into a building that is so dreary on the inside, and I know personally, so they\u2019d tell me the artwork really made them happy and uplifted them.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s not always glamorous. Mish paints through heat waves, wind gusts, curious (and talkative) passing strangers, and thick humidity that makes the paint finicky. Sometimes, she\u2019s racing against rain, but over time, she\u2019s learned to read the weather like it\u2019s another part of the job. <\/p>\n

When the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic brought an unexpected lull in commissions, Mish adapted yet again. During lockdown, she began painting rainbows of hope<\/a> on fellow Islanders\u2019 front doors. That led to painting residential doors for drive-by graduations and birthdays, commissioned work that met the moment of people finding ways to celebrate from a distance.<\/p>\n

Though she loves working with and promoting local small businesses with her storefront art, her proudest project to date is an eight-foot wooden cutout of \u201cTerrifier\u201d character Art the Clown, which she painted for her front yard in October 2023. That year, she turned down her usual Halloween face painting gigs to make something just for herself. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was so happy that I actually was painting something I was enjoying. To this day, I think that\u2019s the one thing I\u2019m really proud of. It\u2019s the one thing I did for me,\u201d Mish said. \u201cSometimes I wish I just painted for me. The grass is always greener.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PaintArt the Clown from the “Terrifier” film series.Courtesy of Paint By Mish<\/p>\n

Mish also began posting more videos online, starting with Instagram and Facebook, where she steadily built a loyal following. Today, she has 277,000 followers on Facebook<\/a> and nearly 200,000 on Instagram<\/a>. Earlier this year, she caved in and joined TikTok, and her online following skyrocketed. She\u2019s now at 236,000 followers on TikTok and counting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very against using TikTok. But this January, I was crazy focused, and I was like, \u2018I\u2019m gonna blow up on TikTok,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what I was doing, so I started saying, \u2018I\u2019m gonna post anything on TikTok. I don\u2019t care what anybody thinks of me. I\u2019m not trying to get business on TikTok.\u2019 And it blew up within a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, social media is a business driver and a creative outlet for Mish. She shares time-lapses of window painting, hilarious behind-the-scenes commentary, thoughtful life advice, and honest rants about life as a working artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not faking things for the purpose of social media or an aesthetic. Like, I don\u2019t care about any of this stuff, you know?\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to have fun with it and show a little bit of what I do. And inspire people to go and do whatever it is they want to do in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PaintOne of Paint by Mish’s window displays.Courtesy of Paint By Mish<\/p>\n

She\u2019s already thinking about what\u2019s next: building out her YouTube channel<\/a>, painting more wood cutouts, working on personal projects, and eventually traveling with her work to take Paint by Mish beyond the East Coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cMotivation, I always say, is not reliable. Motivation is not always there. It\u2019s the discipline, the going after it,\u201d she said. \u201cSo stick to the plan, not your mood. It doesn\u2019t matter how you feel. You just kind of have to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

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