By Janelle Retka – UW News Lab/Special for CHS

A Capitol Hill artist has quietly made her mark inside bars and restaurants across the neighborhood. And she is already finishing her next piece, ready to claim yet another Capitol Hill food and drink wall.

The novel technique and artistic exploration of Tina Randolph’s murals have placed her in high demand as bars and restaurants around Capitol Hill commission her work.

“It doesn’t matter if we have to build a mural 30-feet tall,” Michael Klebeck said. “We’ll do it to include Tina.”

Klebeck, 48 , is a local businessman and designer who co-founded Sun Liquor and Top Pot Doughnuts and creates his venues with Randolph in mind. With an eye for detail, Randolph’s unique craft and dedication to the authenticity of the venue and permanence of the art suit Klebeck’s design approach. His venues feature a range of the artist’s work from floor length wall murals, which Randolph created on site, to smaller, portable pieces of hers fitted to frames for the bathroom wall.

A top-to-bottom mapped wall in the Sun Liquor Distillery took various retries, Klebeck explained, to get the color exactly right. The underlying texture that Klebeck applied provides happily accidental topographical intrigue. Randolph’s design is based on vintage maps, and features her precision in plastering, stenciling and typography.

Klebeck promises that every venue he creates will feature Randolph’s plasterwork, because once he experienced the finish aesthetic of what she offers, a painted wall didn’t measure up.

In addition to commissioning Randolph for a variety of projects, Klebeck connected her to Sergio Chin-ley, who has commissioned Randolph’s panels multiple times in recent years and recommended her to Paul Reder, owner of the newly opened Stout.

There, the rich texture of plaster can be seen dancing with the lighting of the new beer bar and restaurant. Vibrant shades of red, yellow, blue and green pronounce the story of three blue-collar pubgoers in a mural that commands attention. Rays of sunshine cast down upon the three figures from the top corner of the piece, similar to how the mural itself looks down upon the pub scene below.

“I didn’t see the piece until she delivered it,” said Reder. “I knew what it was going to look like, but I didn’t go and visit her progress or anything like that.”

Stout opened in late January with a large four-panel mural broadly displayed above its bar. The mural was installed the same day it was delivered by its local maker. Reder wanted to find a way to make the environment — with ceilings that stretch 26 feet tall — cozy rather than cool and reminiscent of a warehouse. His goal was met through the mural, which marks the epicenter of the bar’s energy.

“In any real pub, the center is the bar,” Reder said, “where the beer and the liquor and the bartenders and the personalities all flow.”

Randolph, 49, began her artistic career painting interior finishes for friends, and in 1995, was commissioned by an acquaintance, Kris von Oy , to finish the concrete countertops for Klebeck in her first industrial architecture project at a venue in Bellevue. Now, Randolph lives in Capitol Hill and has a studio at Inscape Arts. Her work is now featured in venues throughout Capitol Hill and Seattle.

Randolph stumbled into her first art show in 2001 when she was the co-curator of Elliott Bay Café’s art shows with her boyfriend at the time. One artist backed out of a show and Randolph took the opportunity to showcase work she developed over the course of a month. Author bell hooks bought three of Randolph’s paintings, and Randolph saw it as a sign:

“This is it,” Randolph said. “This is my big deal.”

Over the course of time, Randolph’s art grew to incorporate Venetian plaster, stencils and layering to create murals in varying sizes and styles. Encaustic wax is also a medium Randolph uses in which she brushes on layers of tinted wax before melting them with a torch to fuse the layers together.

“The work is slow and tedious, but I don’t tire of it,” Randolph said. “It’s part of a process. A less patient person would not be interested in doing what I do.”

She begins the artistic process with what she refers to as a research stage. A personal connection and familiarity with the setting allow her to get her creative process going. Her goal is to create something that feels authentic, as if it’s always been a part of the setting.

Over the years, Randolph’s large-scale artistic presence has found a home in Sun Liquor, Sun Liquor Distillery, Tavern Law, Top Pot Doughnuts, Zeitgeist Coffee, Mamnoon, Zhu Dang, Bait Shop and Stout, in addition to private pieces. Up until last month when Randolph launched her new website, however, most of this commissioned work occurred through word of mouth, such as her networking with Klebeck.

Randolph’s current project is a three-panel piece for 19th Ave’s Monsoon.

Owner Eric Banh has known Randolph since the early 2000s when she shared a neighboring refinished-furniture showroom and retail space, Play, with local artist Sheila Strobel.

“We’ve talked about working on a projects,” said Randolph, “but it never panned out until this.”

Banh is thrilled to be including authentic local artwork. Having never commissioned artwork for the restaurant in the past, Banh says he is excited and eager to see the final product. The panels, Banh and Randolph agreed, will use a specific color scheme, encaustic wax, and include images of strong Asian women. The rest has been up to Randolph’s artistic and symbolic interpretation.

“We all have critics, whatever we do,” said Banh. “But if you worry about critics, you won’t let anything happen. I guess I took a gamble on this, and I know it’s going to be fantastic.”

Randolph planned to finish the panels by Valentine’s Day, and Banh says they will go up in his restaurant as soon as they’re in his hands.