Meet MuckRock: The International Artist Bringing Color to Crescent City

Internationally acclaimed muralist Jules Muck, better known as MuckRock, has painted around the world. Yet some of her favorite works can be found here in Putnam County. 

“I’m in Crescent City a lot and I love it there,” she said. Although her work can be found around the globe, she has a special place in her heart for this little town in northeast Florida. “I love painting in Crescent City because I feel like the people really appreciate the murals,” she explained.

Where to See MuckRock’s Murals in Crescent City, Florida:

She’s had people who follow her work message her with excitement when they’ve come across her work in Crescent City. Although you can see on her Muck Map where all of her murals are located around the world, sometimes people serendipitously come across them while they’re traveling. It’s hard not to spot her signature style. 

“When people that know my work find them, they'll be like, ‘I saw your painting out here on this country road.’ People send me photos all the time, and they're just so surprised. I really like putting murals in more rural, hidden away areas, because people get so excited about it.” She said there’s one that she’s gotten the most comments about. “Everybody loves the big fish!”

That fish, as well as four other colorful displays of her creative talents, can be found at  Eagle’s Nest Farms. Bryon White, founder of Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co., which has its worldwide headquarters located on premises, was the first to introduce MuckRock to the area. “He’s the one who invited me first,” she said. “We’ve been friends for a long time.” 

That first introduction led to two other colorful murals at another Crescent City hotspot: The Crescent Mercantile and Coffee.

Creating the Perfect Murals for Crescent City: 

She says she sees murals as a collaboration, and there was input from multiple people when she was working on the paintings for Crescent City. “I am the main person executing the painting, but in terms of the conceptualization of the art, it's not a solo thing. We talk about the environment and who's going to see it. I try to embody what's going on there, or enhance it.” 

Since she isn’t from here, she did what she does all over the world, and talked to the locals. “I try to find out what’s the vibe. I want to know what people get inspired by.” She fully believes that the murals she creates need to celebrate the area. “That's the big difference between a mural and a piece of art you would buy in a gallery,” she explained. “A painting does not have to be tied to the area, because it can be moved wherever you go. A mural is stuck there and becomes a part of the landscape, almost like architecture does.” 

She compares it to planting a tree. “If you were to plant a tree, you would definitely take into account the environment, and what's around there, and how to add and enhance it.  I think a mural has to be thought of the same way.” As you take a drive to see her murals, you’ll see how she’s done an exceptional job of weaving in elements of what makes our area special.

MuckRock’s Favorite Murals:

Although all of the murals in Crescent City are meaningful to her, she does have a couple of favorites. Her favorite finished product is the bass at Eagles Nest Farms – a tribute to one of our area’s claims to fame as “The Bass Capital of the World.” 

“That was a fun one to do,” she recalled, “and I think it just works so perfectly on that surface. I love that it's the old corrugated metal, and it works well with the colors.” The surface itself is something she always takes into consideration when painting. “I could paint anything on the surface, but the painting is only a part of the image. The surface itself is a really important component. And I think it's important as an artist to work with that. If I’m painting something like the fish that has that ripple in the pattern, it really works well to use that kind of old metal. It brings it out and adds to it. Whereas if I was trying to paint something like a sleek shark or something, it would not fly. But since I was painting something with scales, I think it worked really well.” 

“I love the finished product of the bass, but my favorite one to do was down at the coffee shop because I got to chat with so many people. That's the other great part about doing public work – I'm not holed up in a studio. It’s more fun. When people are around and enjoying it and participating, it starts to feel almost like a party, you know?” Her hound dog, Dada, was hanging out with her while she painted there, and everyone enjoyed coming up to see him as well. 

And of course, painting at the coffee shop came with another perk… great coffee and food. Though she says she’s also become a fan of Yaupon Tea because of her time spent painting at Eagles Nest Farms, too. “Oh, that tea is so good,” she said. “It’s so funny because Bryon always gives me a bunch when I leave, and then I'm just going through the country and getting people to try the tea.”

How it All Started: 

MuckRock has been painting all over the world for over 30 years, but her status as an internationally-acclaimed artist didn’t come overnight. She explained, “It's so funny, because a lot of people will hire me to stop graffiti now, because the murals stop the graffiti, but I actually got started as a graffiti writer. I was a little bratty kid who was going around writing my name on stuff.”

She was born in England, but moved around a lot as a child. “We moved around so much that I never felt like I belonged anywhere, and I would start putting my name on the walls so that I felt like a part of town, and felt like I had a right to be there. I didn't even think of myself as an artist.” 

She then met some other kids who were doing the same thing and they would paint entire walls. That’s when she really started upping her skills with a spray paint can. The public displays of her artist expression caught the attention of an artist in New York – Lady Pink. “She also started as a subway artist, and now she's in museums all over the place,” she explained. 

Lady Pink hired her to paint and became a mentor to the budding young artist. “She taught me how to paint things like interiors, and she had me doing a lot of Art Deco and diners in Long Island.” She encouraged MuckRock and helped build her up into the artist she is today.

How it’s Going Today:

“It’s taken on a life of its own, because of my ability to travel, and my comfortability with traveling and meeting new people,” she said. “I do a lot of this mural touring, where I'll just drop into a place where I don't know anybody, and start meeting people through painting.” 

Her rigorous travel schedule takes her all over the world, and in turn, helps her to mix and match ideas. She finds it to be inspiring. The oranges she incorporated into her Crescent City murals have even inspired work elsewhere, including an orange-themed mural she later painted in Los Angeles. “One inspires the other, and I get to bring things that I pick up in little towns back to the big city – and they need that.”

We’re so glad she made her way to Crescent City, and she is eager to come back and paint more. She welcomes anyone to reach out to her directly with ideas.

Giving Back to the Community:

“I think that once you start to experience success, it's really important to give back,” she explained. Her passion project is Muck Recovery, a non-profit for artists that have lost their way. It is designed as a community to help artists who have developed drug and alcohol addictions. “It gives me more pleasure than the biggest job, more pleasure than the biggest paycheck. It’s that feeling of knowing I get to help somebody.”

In addition to her work with Muck Recovery, her artwork is helping people, too. Art brings people together. She shared, “Someone told me a long time ago, art makes people talk to each other – and that’s something that’s really important for the community, and for people’s mental health. Connection is so important.”

Part of expanding public art is inspiring the next generation as well. Just like Lady Pink believed in her, she also wants to see other young artists thrive. “I always encourage them to share what they do. I know there's a lot of insecurity and fear around putting art out there, but I would have never met anyone who could help me or got paid to do anything if I hadn't already been showing people and sharing what I do.”

A Self-Guided Tour of MuckRock’s Murals in Crescent City, Florida: 

• Start your day at The Crescent Mercantile and Coffee. 

1304 CR-308  Crescent City, Florida 32112

Grab a coffee and pastry and check out the ones there. 

• Then head to Eagles Nest Farms/Yaupon Brothers American Tea

470 Old Highway 17  Crescent City, Florida 32112

Take a free tour of the tea factory, walk through the fields of yaupon plants, and of course, check out the murals. (Tours are free, but you’ll need to email in advance to book it: hello@yauponbrothers.com)

The murals may be what brings you to Crescent City, but there’s plenty to do once you’re here. To get more information on what to do, where to stay, and more, download the Visit Putnam FL app for Apple or Android.