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Spend time strolling through certain parts of the Peninsula and your eyes may be drawn to the vibrant work of Half Moon Bay muralist Julie Engelmann. In recent years, she’s been commissioned to liven up local walls with art that draws from history, nature and culture, taking inspiration from the pumpkin patches of Half Moon Bay, the graveyards of Colma and the marine ecosystem of the Coastside.
“I love doing murals that represent, and have meaning and depth to them,” she said. “You can tie in elements from history to make it aesthetic and also tell a story at the same time.”
A successful muralist must be sensitive to the needs and ideas of both the artist and the commissioner.
“That’s a very delicate balance,” she said. “The beginning stages of creating a mural (are) the most important part. I always tell my clients I will work with them, I want to bring their creative visions to life, but at the same time things always turn out so much better when you give your artist creative freedom as well.”
Engelmann has always had a creative spirit. Like many kids, she grew up loving to draw and paint. But when she reached middle school, that passion was somewhat put on the back burner.
“A lot of school systems, once you are out of fifth grade, it’s more academic; traditional career paths are more encouraged; artful, creative things are sort of put to the side,” said Engelmann, who was raised in San Mateo. She went on to study psychology in college, and while she continued painting as a side gig, she worked in research and labs post-graduation.
“It wasn’t bringing me joy at all so I ended up quitting my job at the time during the pandemic to pursue painting,” she said.
And while she still also does fine-art paintings and digital illustrations (including designing the poster for the 2022 Fog Fest in Pacifica), she’s found her greatest joy and purpose in going big.
“I love seeing my work on a big scale,” she said of becoming a muralist. “In the public space like that, not reserved for a wall in someone’s home or in small pieces. I absolutely fell in love with it.”
Many of her murals are on the Coastside, at restaurants and other small businesses (her first was a skate ramp). In 2022, she was commissioned by the city of Half Moon Bay to paint a mural in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Art & Pumpkin Festival on the historic Cunha’s Country Store building downtown.
Getting that big commission “was definitely a pivotal point in my mural career,” she said. “It got me in the spotlight a little bit more.” The goal was to illustrate the history and vibe of the city, she said, and the mural includes farmers and iconic crops like artichokes, eye-catching sunflowers and, of course, pumpkins.
“Half Moon Bay to me is just a very ‘farm’ town, very coastal,” she said. Because the mural celebrates the town’s annual autumn harvest event, she used “a lot of rustic colors representing fall.” Thanks to that project, she was then awarded a mural commission from the city of Placerville.
One of her most noteworthy local works is a 180-foot commission for the city of Colma, completed in 2024 to mark the city’s centennial. The mural, organized as a timeline of sorts, includes representations of Native American culture and local agriculture, “then you kind of go into this very beautiful, art-like cemetery aesthetic,” she said.
Colma, of course, is probably best known for its plethora of final resting places, and Engelmann’s mural pays tribute to some of the stone sculptures and lovely stained-glass elements of the city’s cemeteries and mausoleums. It also includes florals inspired by its flower shops, as well as scenes reflecting the natural beauty of the area.
Recently, she was commissioned by Daly City to create an indoor mural for its human resources department. For that project, she “remixed” the city seal, with representations of all the city departments encircling it, separated by sun beams.
She also featured the endangered Mission blue butterfly, which is endemic to just a few spots in the Bay Area. In September, she completed a mural outside of Cotton Crustacean on Palmetto Avenue in Pacifica, depicting an underwater scene full of local marine life.
“I do love painting the natural environment,” she said.
Going from smaller-scale paintings and illustrations to murals is “definitely a transition,” she said. “It’s very intimidating when you’re first starting out but it’s just practice; just keep doing it and working at it and you’ll understand how to work with the wall, the angle, how people will view it walking by.”
Her advice for artists who might want to try murals?
“Start with a bigger brush and you’ll see how much more you’ll be able to get done,” Engelmann said (she also often works with spray paint.)
Another tip for aspiring muralists: Painting murals is physically demanding work.
“There’s no getting around it being labor-intensive, either. You’re using your whole body. You’ve got to get your massages lined up after completing a wall,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do this my whole life. I hope I will!”
There’s also a learning curve to use the lifts necessary for reaching high spaces.
“It is scary while you’re up there. You have to really trust the machine and make sure it’s working right. You get the hang of it,” she said. When she first started, “I lost sleep before I had to operate the lift. I definitely couldn’t sleep the night before. However, it’s not as bad as it looks.”
Reflecting back over the past few years, Engelmann is proud to have made the risky but rewarding decision to pursue art full time and find her niche as a muralist.
“Jobs like that are possible,” she said. “It’s not easy; there’s a lot of work that’s involved in getting to a fully sustainable career, but I think it’s worth it once you find that specific thing that just hits home for you.”
Visit Julie Engelmann’s website at artbyjul.com/murals and her Instagram account, @artbyjul_.
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