Toronto native and fellow Queen’s student Colin Turner Bloom (ArtSci ’14) is perhaps not a typical working student; Colin earns his summer income by painting murals. I caught up with Colin at the Jewish Community Centre in Toronto, the site of his most recent mural project.

The Journal: You’ve clearly got a creative eye and passion for art-do you sketch or paint as a hobby?

Colin Turner-Bloom: Yes. I used to do lots of both but recently most of the painting I do is for work. I doodle a lot still.

The Journal: How did you come up with the idea of painting murals? How did you get started?

Colin Turner-Bloom: When I was in grade 10 I met these guys working on a project around the corner from my house for a mural program called LOFT at The Youth Centre for Social Enterprise and Innovation The guys were really cool and I was lucky enough they hired me in the summer. I learned most of what I know there, some of the guys had been painting murals since the early 90’s so painting murals definitely wasn’t my idea.

The Journal: What other projects have you worked on within the city?

Colin Turner-Bloom: I did an art show with the LOFT crew but other than that I’ve mostly worked on various murals around my neighbourhood. Last summer I was selling canvases out the pillow/design store called Constantine in Toronto where I worked.

The Journal: Is any of your personal artwork for sale?

Colin Turner-Bloom: My muraling is for sale. I hand out flyers advertising my work and people have contacted me through that.

The Journal: What advice would you give to a fellow student looking to start up his or her own business?

Colin Turner-Bloom: I don’t have my own business, but if you are serious about starting something official you can look for grants,, for example the Youth Summer Company Grant. In my case I applied for a stArt grant, which supports street art initiative. If it’s window cleaning or something like that just hire your friends and it could be super fun.