When the sun sets on the backside of the Financial Services building in downtown Norman, the horizon is overwhelmed with hues of red and gold that blend perfectly into artist Rick Sinnett's mural of a red-tailed hawk.
Located on the corner of Peters Avenue and Main Street, the mural stands 85 feet tall and 150 feet wide. Sinnett, an Oklahoman born in Mustang, is known by the pseudonym MothMan.
His idea for the piece, a red-tailed hawk, has been over 15 years in the making. While Sinnett was growing up, the bird was a significant symbol to him as an Oklahoman, so when approached to submit a mural design for the building, he knew exactly what he wanted to paint.
The process of translating Sinnett’s drawings to murals involved help from several people.
Before breaking ground, he has the drawing rendered into a 3-D image, which he proposes to the client. If accepted, he has the sketch turned into a stencil offsite then brought in with tools. He and a group of assistants then outline the sketch in sharpie, Sinnett said.
Encouraged since childhood to do art, Sinnett, who would not describe his work as typical southwestern art, discovered his modern-day folk art style through growth, having been influenced by his proud Oklahoma roots, he said.
Nature and symmetry play heavy roles in not only what inspires Sinnett but also how he translates his surroundings into his work, Sinnett said.
In the Norman Red Tail Hawk Mural, like most of his murals, the colors he paints create a similar impact as the colors in an Oklahoma sunset, he said.
“Although it seems it’s hard to find the connection between some of my pieces and Oklahoma, I am proud to be a part of this state," Sinnett said. "And although (his art) isn’t typical of southwestern art, because I was born and raised here and been inspired by my surroundings, in essence, it is Oklahoma art”.
Sinnett creates more than just murals. His large body of work expands into prints, apparel and items like textiles and guitar pedals.
Sinnett’s ability to license out designs has allowed his artwork to be seen and used in more creative ways. Sinnett is a huge fan of social media and has used it as a way to broadcast his work to a larger audience. He also encourages people to take photos in front of his murals and post them, he said.
The hashtag #artforthepeople, appears frequently on the Moth Collection Facebook and Instagram account. Sinnett began the #artforthepeople campaign in his youth when he was living in San Francisco and selling his artwork on the Upper Haight, he said.
On the back of all his 8 1/2-by-11 prints he used to sell, he included his mission statement along with a return address to his mother's house in Mustang, Oklahoma, where they could send him a reply. Sinnett was astonished by the responses, even collecting several international letters, he said.
"It was more than me selling art; it was feeding my soul,” Sinnett said.
