Gabriel "Paste" Portillo

Artist Gabriel Portillo, also known as "Paste," was born in Alpine, Texas. He currently resides and is based out of Austin, Texas.

Growing up in Alpine, Gabriel had the opportunity to take art lessons as a child from a local artist, Charlie Bell. This is when his love for creating was sparked. Gabriel continued taking art classes in junior high and high school. After a couple years in college Gabriel decided to move to Austin to further his career in art. Intrigued by the public and street art, his transition into becoming a muralist has become a big part of his focus. While his interest in murals has grown, his love for his studio practice has emerged within the past couple years. The overall act of creating is essential to Gabriel's being.

Always evolving and constantly keeping an eye out for a new idea to spark, Gabriel continues to show enthusiasm for creating art.

Can you introduce yourself?

I'm Gabriel Rene Portillo, otherwise known as Paste and I'm a muralist and a painter in Austin Texas. I'm from Alpine Texas, and I've been here for about seven years now. I like to create my way through my life and with my talents and the abilities that I was given which is putting my thoughts and my ideas onto a canvas or wall, so I use that to pretty much build my life and create my life through my work essentially.

Where do you find insperation to create?

Inspiration for me is one of those things that I really don't go seeking for I try to let it kind of hit me whenever it hits me. There's a there's an artist who has recently passed Chuck Close, and he says the inspiration for amateurs' inspiration comes from the work itself. I don’t think it’s necessarily that it's for amateurs, but I like to take that and think you know if you get in there every day and work essentially, the ideas start to flow to your head and hear lately with the work that I've been doing it's been such a time crunch.

I have to be in the studio so much and constantly working so the inspiration has just driven from the work itself you know but as far as things that I like look outside it's weird to say, but I love clouds. I love to just go to Barton Springs lay down and just look up at the clouds and just be in the moment and look at the trees and there are different things like that you know everyday life for me is, I guess you could say an inspiration.

Can you share you share a bit of your journey as an artist?

I've been doing art now for a very long time. I started taking art lessons in the third grade out in West Texas, going to this artist, Charlie Bell, who was the one who taught me for about three years and it's crazy because I still have a relationship with him. We had a show in November so it's just like this weird dichotomy that like has happened I did art my whole entire life in high school, I went to state and art I had an awesome art teacher Jane Becker, who like pushed me, I would like sneak out a second period to go to her class and paint and draw just do whatever they were doing.

So that was very special to me and then I went to college for a little bit but it wasn't for me so I made the move to Austin and I decided to pursue my art career. I was doing art full time but I was also working full-time in a separate job, so it was just like crazy balance this crazy hustle that really never stops right.

Two years ago I just pretty much said fuck it and decided to take art on full-time and just dive In the deep end you know, and pretty much learn how to Swim.

Can you share a bit about the process for creating your artwork?

Yeah, so whenever I'm creating my artwork, I create everything from its raw's form to its finished product, which is the painting. I have the raw wood, I have the raw canvas, and then I stretch it myself, I prime it myself, adjust it myself, and then essentially I will sketch the image onto the canvas and then, and then from there, it's just where the magic happens pretty much you know.

The whole painting process begins, I think when the paint is made with the colors that I mix. All the different tones I can get, different shades of green blue whatever it may be you know. Whenever I come to the studio, that's kind of the whole process of that, and then if I'm on a mural, it's a little bit different I'll sketch the image onto the wall I use different materials, but here lately, I've been more focused on my studio work.

The whole process of that just kind of derives from the whole experiences outside of the studio then I try to bring those experiences inside the studio and capture that on the canvas right, and when I get in the studio I try to treat it as a meditative process even though it gets kind of chaotic in my brain and you know whatever factors maybe it's kind of I try to look at it as this space where I go to find myself you know.

I'm in there hours and hours a day by myself, you know either in silence or listening to music or something but thoughts and all these different you know whatever comes through my brain so I have that time to sit there with myself and essentially become a part of the painting. The cool thing about that is I get to like become a part of the painting I get to produce the painting but then when it's done it's it's done and I get to just let It live, and let it breathe a whole different life.

Can you share a bit about the process for creating your artwork?

Yeah, so whenever I'm creating my artwork, I create everything from its raw's form to its finished product, which is the painting. I have the raw wood, I have the raw canvas, and then I stretch it myself, I prime it myself, adjust it myself, and then essentially I will sketch the image onto the canvas and then, and then from there, it's just where the magic happens pretty much you know.

The whole painting process begins, I think when the paint is made with the colors that I mix. All the different tones I can get, different shades of green blue whatever it may be you know. Whenever I come to the studio, that's kind of the whole process of that, and then if I'm on a mural, it's a little bit different I'll sketch the image onto the wall I use different materials, but here lately, I've been more focused on my studio work.

The whole process of that just kind of derives from the whole experiences outside of the studio then I try to bring those experiences inside the studio and capture that on the canvas right, and when I get in the studio I try to treat it as a meditative process even though it gets kind of chaotic in my brain and you know whatever factors maybe it's kind of I try to look at it as this space where I go to find myself you know.

I'm in there hours and hours a day by myself, you know either in silence or listening to music or something but thoughts and all these different you know whatever comes through my brain so I have that time to sit there with myself and essentially become a part of the painting. The cool thing about that is I get to like become a part of the painting I get to produce the painting but then when it's done it's it's done and I get to just let It live, and let it breathe a whole different life.

Can you tell us about Little Big Moments?

So the show we have coming up with 1301 Gallery it's me and my buddy Skele, Jeff everyone calls him Skele he’s been a good buddy of mine it's crazy because I met him like six years ago maybe seven years ago at this at this place he was live painting and I saw him from a distance and I was just so admired with his work. I'm a big fan of Basquiat and he was like on some like Basquiat type at the time so I was just like who the who is this guy like I like I didn't know anyone in the community I was like so nervous at this party by myself and then I met him and then you know we we're we we became friends and then about I would say about three or four years ago we became really good homies right and always have been a great admirer of his work and just who he is as a person and his outlook on his work you know and how he creates his paintings.

Then he hit me up about two months ago to ask if I wanted to become or be part of the show and I was just like so ecstatic and nervous and uh all the emotions and I said yes. Here we are now the show's uh title is Little Big Moments and that's kind of what I've been talking about throughout this whole interview is just like these little big moments in your life that they may not seem like big at the time, and they may not ever be big but it's just like a matter of acknowledging those moments and soaking in those moments and admiring them.

When we both came up with that title and agreed on it I was just like this is this is perfect because, with the show I want to, I'm going in a different direction like my Western kind of like psychedelic stuff and going more photo-realism. I want to like to show my classical skill even though I'm not classically trained I want to show that I can do this I can go in this Avenue and still succeed you know, and so I'm painting little big moments from like photos that I or my girlfriend have taken and transferring those to a canvas with paint, and I want to just express like those moments of gratitude and being in that moment.

I want to make it feels as if you're kind of there with me or like you're like oh I wonder what was going down whenever we're doing this or whatever it maybe you know yeah this would be a cool uh gap we're gonna bridge the gap of styles pretty much and of just like what it means to be an artist you know because me and Skele have different creative paths we do things way differently and uh the little big moments are what's going to tie everything together.