¡Montana Meets Mexico!

In February I painted a mural inside one of the Mr. Burritos Mexican Food locations here in Bozeman.

The owner, Mario Rodriguez, moved to Montana from Zacatecas, Mexico. 

He always dreamed of having his own restaurant, and in 2020 he made that dream real by starting with a food truck. Since then, Mr. Burritos has grown into four unique locations.

Mario and I first crossed paths while I was painting a mural downtown, and he stopped to ask for a business card. I love that he kept it tucked away and called me nearly five years later to paint this wall! (note: you'll never know what a chance meeting will bring, and when)

He gave me a lot of freedom with the design, which is always both exciting and daunting.

For the color palette and composition, I looked to the existing artwork in the restaurant, which features lively table scenes and Mexican village imagery. 

Delicious color palette inspiration! I also really love all the circles and dividing lines of the agave leaf and place mat.

I wanted the mural to feel like it belonged with those pieces while still having its own presence in the space.

To avoid making a literal “burrito mural,” I took a Montana-meets-Mexico approach. 

The design brings together flora and fauna from both places, including agave, bison, and Bozeman's unofficial mascot, magpies. 

The mural took about 25 hours over four days. One of my favorite parts was choosing colors you almost never get to pick from the house paint aisle, shades with names like “Poison” and “Habanero Chili.”

Unfortunately the restaurant was under renovation during the project, so I ate zero burritos while painting, but will have no problem making up for this. 

¡Provecho!