Every day this month we’ll be showcasing one of the artists and authors in the new ‘Art of Sherlock Holmes’ project – today it’s artist Eddie Mendieta.

Eddie Mendieta’s work, which is now nearly omnipresent throughout downtown West Palm Beach, began with a single mural on the side of Respectables “I had known Rodney [Mayo] for a long time, since the early 90s,” said Mendieta. “I had stopped painting for a while, I had work and kids. But after I ran into Rodney a few years ago I asked him if I could paint the side of the building. After harassing him for a couple of months he said yeah, and it just went from there.” (Palm Beach Illustrated)

The mural, the faces of his children in monochrome, was a bold work in a city seeking an artistic voice. But, and there is always a ‘but’ when it comes to graffiti-style art, Mendieta did not get the proper permits. “I didn’t know we needed permits to paint on the wall, so we kind of got in trouble from the city,” remembers Mendieta. However, there was a silver lining to the slap on the wrist. “Through that, I wound up meeting Raphael Clemente of the Downtown Development Authority , and that’s how the other murals [around West Palm] happened. It actually worked.”

My favourite mural of Eddie’s is the Evernia Street Parking Garage – simply stunning.

You can see the painting process in this three minute video.

For The Art of Sherlock Holmes, Eddie created a brilliant painting – here’s a glimpse:

Eddie is one of the fifteen artists who have created new pieces for The Art of Sherlock Holmes West Palm Beach Edition which is published in May and available now on Kickstarter – The Art of Sherlock Holmes.