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Transform Your Building with a Stunning Postcard-Style Mural by Maxfield Bala Imagine turning the side of your building into a breathtaking, oversized postcard—an artistic landmark that captures the essence of your city, brand, or story. At Bala Creative, we specialize in creating high-impact, eye-catching murals that not only beautify spaces but also draw in customers, tourists, and social media buzz. At Bala Creative we have painted postcard murals in locations like San Francisco, Oxnard, Petaluma, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Two Rock, Sebastopol, Eastvale, Dry Creek and schools throughout California. Peace, Love and Pinot Postcard Mural Painting in Healdsburg, Ca by Maxfield Bala Why a Postcard-Style Mural? Postcard murals are a powerful way to showcase your community, your business, and your vision. Designed to evoke nostalgia and pride, these murals often feature bold lettering, vibrant colors, and iconic local imagery. They create a sense of place, transforming ordinary walls into must-see destinations. Increase Foot Traffic & Brand Visibility  – A stunning mural naturally attracts attention, encouraging people to stop, take photos, and share online. Showcase Your Community Pride  – Highlighting the history, culture, or landmarks of your city fosters a deeper connection with residents and visitors alike. Turn Your Wall into an Instagram-Worthy Hotspot  – In today’s digital world, shareable content is king. A beautiful mural can boost your brand presence with organic social media exposure. Our Process – Bringing Your Vision to Life At Bala Creative, we make the process seamless and exciting: Consultation & Concept Development  – We listen to your ideas, explore design inspirations, and refine a concept that reflects your unique vision. Custom Design  – Our team crafts a compelling, postcard-style layout featuring striking typography, local elements, and vibrant aesthetics. Professional Execution  – Using premium paints and expert techniques, we bring the design to life with precision and artistry. Final Touches & Sealing  – To ensure durability and longevity, we apply high-quality protective coatings, keeping your mural vibrant for years to come. Here are a few case studies of postcard murals we have painted for our clients: Greetings From Onxard Greetings From Oxnard Postcard Mural Our mission working with Visit Oxnard was to paint a large-scale mural for the exterior of the Oxnard Transit Center. The Oxnard Transit Center is within Downtown Oxnard, California and is the hub to Amtrak Trains and local bus routes offering transportation to areas across the state of California and throughout the United States. This hub offers the perfect opportunity to leave a lasting mark to those not only within the community but those passing by and visiting the Oxnard area as well. The mural features an iconic vintage postcard aesthetic with a stylistic twist by our lead muralist Maxfield Bala. The mural spans 40 feet wide and 12 feet tall and was painted using a variety of high quality paints over a multi surface brick wall. We worked with Visit Oxnard to feature iconography most pertinent to the Oxnard area. This iconography landed us with an oceanic base with a parasailed off the coast, waves breaking onto the shore and a beach carrying up to the surrounding mountain range. A sea lion commonly found off Hollywood Beach looks towards the Bold Oxnard Lettering. The Letter O features the Oxnard Pagoda. The X features two luscious strawberries. The N features a Chevy Impala parked outside one of Oxnard's beaches. The A features a sailboat exiting Seabridge. The N features a Channel Island Fox endemic to the Channel Island National Park just off the Oxnard coastline. The D includes a pair of boxing gloves paying homage to Oxnard's world champion boxing legacy. To protect the mural we've applied a high quality UV resistant clear coat to keep the mural looking like new for decades to come. We're excited to see the virility of this mural for those visiting Oxnard and looking to share their time in the area. Greetings From Santa Clara Greetings From Santa Clara Postcard Mural The Premier wall features a classic take on a postcard style mural. Greetings from Santa Clara California reads boldy across the wall with each letter featuring prominent pieces of iconography specific to Santa Clara. From the historic train station, the peace rose, Santa Clara Mission, or the local university. To the right a large leaf cutter bee pollinates a Golden Poppy Flower further paying tribute to the area's farming history. The lettering is flanked by two "Most Beautiful Jewel" flowers native to the area.   The Largest of the mural paintings at the Agrihood housing development is a three story corrugated metal water tower. The curved water tower required a series of unique design and painting techniques in order to properly develop and transfer the mural design. The mural paintings design features a series of local wildlife including a great blue heron and Monarch Butterflies among Apricot blossoms and other local flowers. The murals required two months to paint and were treated with a series of protective UV and graffiti resistant clear coats to protect and preserve the murals for years to come. Greetings From San Francisco Greetings From San Francisco Postcard Mural Our mission working with Electric Scooter Company in San Francisco was to paint a large scale Greetings From San Francisco Mural . Taking inspiration from the classic "Gettings From" postcards of old we adapted the idea into an exterior mural with a modern twist. The outdoor mural features the cities most notable iconography including the Golden Gate Bridge, City Hall, Coit Tower, Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, Ferry Building, Cable Car, Painted Ladies, Lombard Street,  and The Palace of Fine Arts among many others. The letter "S" features the Fisherman's Wharf Sign, the letter "A" features the Painted ladies and the letter "N" features the Palace of Fine Arts. The letter "F" features the Golden Gate Bridge, the letter "R" represents China Town, the letter "A" features San Franciso City Hall, and the letter "N" features Alcatraz. The letter "C" features Lombard street, the letter "I" features Coit Tower, and the letter "S" features the Bay Bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco. The letter "C" features the Ferry Building and the Letter "O" features SF's iconic Cable Cars. The Letters "C" and "A" features Californias state bird being the quail and state flower being the Golden Poppy. The Greetings From San Francisco mural painted by mural artist Maxfield Bala is open to the public in the iconic Fisherman's Wharf District. The mural measures 13' tall by 18' wide. Remember to tag #greetingsfromSanFran and visit the live webcam as the entire alley is transformed with new mural paintings.  Greetings From Eastvale Greetings From Eastvale Postcard Mural Our mission working with Public Storage and Clark Investment Group was to create a large-scale exterior mural project that not only beautifies the newly constructed Public Storage facility but a mural painting that represents the Southern California community of Eastvale. Muralist Maxfield Bala worked with the client to create a rendition of the classic "Welcome to" postcard style mural that would highlight Eastvale's History, industry, and community in a fun, vibrant, and creative design. Each letter making up "Eastvale" is filled with an image that helps tell a story pertinent to the city and its surrounding area. The letter E represents the Santa Ana River, The Letter A features a historical photo of Eastvale's historic Schoolhouse. The Letter S includes a pint of milk and a wheel of cheese reflecting the cities dairy industry while the letter T includes a Quail- California state bird. The inside of letter V has various fruits grown in the area like grapes, lemon, oranges, and strawberries. The second A sees palm trees in front of a California sunset and the letter L has four Golden Poppy Flowers- California's state flower in tribute to the area's super blooms. Finally, the inside of letter E includes vegetables grown in the surrounding area of Eastvale. Greetings From Mcnear Greetings From Mcnear Postcard Mural Our mission working with Mcnear Elementary School was to develop and paint a mural representative of the school. The original mural painted by another artist had been damaged after years of weather and sun damage. The new mural would be painted with higher quality materials and protected with an archival UV/ weather resistant clear coat to allow the mural painting to last for decades. The mural itself features images and text requested by the schools students and faculty. The Murals composition includes a large postcard style scene with bold text that reads “McNear”. The school’s mascot the Falcon sites behind the text. Each letter is filled with iconic imagery related to the school and its values. These letters include wildlife, art, history, physical education, and preforming arts scenes. The mural spans 30’ wide and 16’ tall at its highest point.  Greetings From Wilson School Our mission working with Wilson School was to create a mural that would promote school pride and inspire students and staff for years to come. The mural design itself follows our iconic “Greetings From..” Post card series and worked perfectly to represent a wide range of ideas and topics the school requested to be included in the school’s mural painting. The letter “W” features a wildcat the schools mascot. The letter ”I” represents the Art as a school subject. The letter “S” represents to local dairy industry and rural lifestyle pertinent to the surrounding area.The letter “O” represents additional school subjects such as science, technology, and, history. The letter “N” represents sports featuring soccer, foot, tennis, basket, and base balls. Behind the lettering falls green rolling hills. The mural is sized at roughly 30’ in length and 8’ in height. Welcome to Petaluma Mural Our mission working with Public Storage and Terrapin Investments was to create a large scale Outdoor mural project that inspires and wholeheartedly represents the community of Petaluma, California, a small town about 45 minutes north of San Francisco, California. Muralist Maxfield Bala worked with the client to create a modernized version of the classic "Welcome to" postcard as a way to represent the City of Petaluma in a fun, vibrant and creative way. Each letter is filled with local iconography that helps tell a story relative to Petaluma's vibrant history and culture. The letter "P" features the Petaluma Clocktower, Letter "E" features the Petaluma River, Letter "T" features the Petaluma History Museum, Letter "A" features the Mcnear Building, and Letter "L" features Eggs as part of the town history as the Egg Capital of the world. The letter "U" features the old bank building a Downtown Petaluma fixture, Letter "M" features the Petaluma Grain Elevator and finally, Letter "A" features a chick. The "Welcome to Petaluma" mural is located off Highway 101 North heading towards San Francisco. The 13' tall by 40' mural was painted using a variety of materials including acrylics, latex, and aerosol paints and was sealed with a UV / weather resistant and a graffiti proof clear coat to further protect the exterior mural painting. Papapietro Perry Postcard Mural Our mission working with Papapietro Perry Winery was to create a mural painting that would enhance the winery's exterior and create an iconic background for group photos. Papapietro-Perry Winery resides in the world famous wine region of Dry Creek in Sonoma County. Located just outside of Healdsburg, California. The creative direction behind the mural paintining was to feature their slogan "Peace, Love, and Pinot" while drawing attention to their storied history, passion and commitment to friends and family. Landing on a vintage postcard aesthetic, a hand holds up a postcard sporting their slogan. The LOVE text includes a photo of the founders first days in the garage making wine, a family large family dinner banquet, a wine bottling pouring into a glass and the Winery owner's dogs. The background elements include a brilliant sunset of oranges, purples and yellows. Pinot grapes fall at the bottom of the mural, the barn on the winery property and rolling hills of vineyards. The mural measures thirteen and a half feet by another thirteen and a half feet and was painted on a rolling door.  View All Postcard Murals here Let’s Create Something Iconic Whether you own a café, boutique, brewery, or corporate space, a postcard-style mural can instantly elevate your business and leave a lasting impression. Let’s collaborate to make your wall the next city landmark! Contact Bala Creative today to discuss your vision and get a custom quote. Your building is a blank canvas—let’s make it unforgettable!

Commencing the Project When commencing a mural project, we request basic information from our clients including the size, a project description, and a brief description of the space including the texture of the wall. We highly recommend a complementary mural consultation with one of our artists to discuss your vision for the project, survey the location and take dimensions on our end. Once we have this information we will send over a price estimate and project schedule.​​ ​ Deposit and Contract Once our clients have approved the price estimate we send over a contract and deposit invoice for the mural project. We require a 50% deposit to cover the purchase of all supplies, materials, equipment and artistic services required to commence the mural project. Once we've received the deposit and signed the contract we commence the image development process.​​ ​ Mural Image Development At Bala Creative we specialize in the development of murals for artistic collaborations close to the artist's style, stylistic interpretations and the replication of exact images, logos, and artworks. For our clients seeking image development services, we offer this service as part of our mural process or as a singular service. We begin the process through a design discussion, developing a general idea of the mural through our discussions that can include inspiration images. Based on our design discussions, professional opinions and the mural's canvas we begin development on two digitally rendered explore concepts. Explore concepts help us steer the mural concept in the right direction towards a refined round two concepts. After we present around two concepts we accept final revisions and complete the mural image development process with a final full-color concept and mockup. This full-color concept provides the client with a very strong idea of the final mural painting. While the final color concept never looks as good as the mural painting it looks very close to the final product. Our typical turn around for a project without a tight deadline is three weeks with client review and revisions​ ​ Mural Painting We work around your schedule to paint murals at a time most convenient to you or your business, working off-hours and weekends if need be. We are well versed in completing mural paintings in short time frames at a high level, for example, we painted a 30'H x 110'W mural in five days for Lagunitas in Las Vegas, Ca. Depending on the murals requirements we work with upwards to three talented muralists on our projects to complete our murals in a timely manner. Our typical mural paintings require five days and are painted by our lead muralist, Maxfield Bala. ​ Our murals are painted with the highest quality mural paints available. Applied by internationally renown muralists using techniques that ensure a high-quality mural painting for your next commercial, advertising or public art project. Murals over 13' in height or in difficult to access locations require lift equipment. We ultimately provide the lift equipment as an additional item listed on the mural estimate. ​ Final Payment Once the Mural has been completed we require the final payment or remaining balance within 30 days of the project completion.

Here at Maxfield Bala Creative we are proud to call the San Francisco, Bay Area our home base. While we create interior/ exterior murals internationally there is nothing like providing our Bay Area neighbors a fresh office mural, commercial activation, or restaurant installation. We provide in person mural consultations in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and San Francisco Counties. We believe artists are the key to setting yourself apart from other brands. Hand painted murals offer a genuine and unique cultural experience audiences desire. Investing in the arts is investing in your brand. Our mural services are lead by award winning muralist and fine artist Maxfield Bala. As an International mural artist, Bala hand paints each and every one of our clients murals with his unique creative vision resulted in creative collaborations with some of the world's largest companies and promising start ups. We offer our clients this genuine experience with a hassle free mural painting experience, painting in off or low traffic hours to ensure a low impact work environment. Wether you have a mural idea in mind or are seeking a brand new concept, we pride ourselves on the ability to make your mural vision a reality. If your interested in a hand painted San Francisco, Bay Area Mural give us a call anytime at: (707) 971-0814 or send an email to: maxfield@maxfieldbala.com to book your complementary consultation now. Remember we offer in person consultations in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and San Francisco Counties.

Muralist, Maxfield Bala is currently underway in his effort to paint two massive murals spanning over 13' tall and 90' wide in his hometown of Petaluma, Ca. Maxfield is the owner and creative director behind Bala Creative, a multi faceted art and design company based out of the San Francisco, Bay Area, Bala was contacted by Terrapin Investments and Petaluma Self Storage to create murals that would help transform the new structure street side presence. After some thought Bala and client determined a tribute or gateway to Petaluma/ Sonoma County would be the driving theme and overall inspiration behind the two mural projects. Bala is currently halfway through the first mural entitled " Welcome to Petaluma." This mural is based off a vintage postcard look with a contemporary flair (see pictures attached). Maxfield Bala plans to finish up the projects towards the end of January.

1. GREETINGS FROM SAN FRANCISCO Our mission working with Electric Scooter Company in San Francisco was to paint a large scale Greetings From San Francisco Mural. Taking inspiration from the classic "Gettings From" postcards of old we adapted the idea into an exterior mural with a modern twist. The outdoor mural features the cities most notable iconography including the Golden Gate Bridge, City Hall, Coit Tower, Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, Ferry Building, Cable Car, Painted Ladies, Lombard Street, and The Palace of Fine Arts among many others. The letter "S" features the Fisherman's Wharf Sign, the letter "A" features the Painted ladies and the letter "N" features the Palace of Fine Arts. The letter "F" features the Golden Gate Bridge, the letter "R" represents China Town, the letter "A" features San Franciso City Hall, and the letter "N" features Alcatraz. The letter "C" features Lombard street, the letter "I" features Coit Tower, and the letter "S" features the Bay Bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco. The letter "C" features the Ferry Building and the Letter "O" features SF's iconic Cable Cars. The Letters "C" and "A" features Californias state bird being the quail and state flower being the Golden Poppy. The Greetings From San Francisco mural painted by mural artist Maxfield Bala is open to the public in the iconic Fisherman's Wharf District. The mural measures 13' tall by 18' wide. Remember to tag #greetingsfromSanFran and visit the live webcam as the entire alley is transformed with new mural paintings. Click Here for T-shirts and Prints of The Greetings From San Francisco Mural 2. Intrepid Mural Our mission was to create a series of interior mural paintings and sign paintings around the Intrepid Group office in San Francisco to help beautify the space and inspire their employees and clients. With Intrepid leading curated travel services it was ideal that we help bring that adventurous feel to these murals. We collaborated with Intrepid Travel to paint a mural that features the San Franciso based companies most popular travel destination packages. The interior mural painting includes the companies slogan "Change the Way People See the World" surrounded by painted animals, including a polar bear, elephant, and blue bobby. Painted locations including the Taj Mahal, Egyptian pyramids, Havana homes, Golden Gate Bridge and Australia's Uluru Rock. Other mural painting elements include wildflowers like the Golden Poppy and environments from Antarctica, China, Nepal, and Italy. Other installations aside from this interior office mural for Intrepid Travel include sign paintings and an interactive chalk wall mural at the San Francisco office. 3. Jefferson Airplane Mural Our mission working with the Iconic Jefferson Airplane, Jampol Artist Management and Sony Music were to create an iconic exterior mural painting based on The Airplane's "Volunteers" album. Volunteers was the fifth studio album by American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in 1969 as RCA Victor LSP-4238 and in quadrophonic sound in 1973 as RCA Quadradisc APD1-0320. The album was controversial because of its revolutionary and anti-war lyrics along with the use of profanity. For the album's 50th anniversary we went back to the band's roots in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District to paint a mural that would celebrate the revolutionary albums cover artwork. Painted on one of our rentable wall locations for advertising murals in the San Francisco area, artist Maxfield Bala spent four days painting this 13'0" H X 36'0" W mural to a variant of requested specifications. Maxfield worked with the band to design the mural around the dimensions of the wall. As a promotional effort, we time-lapsed the mural painting process for future use on social media channels. With thousands bound to see this mural a day, we couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate the album's release and introduce new listers to Jefferson Airplane and their incredible legacy. 4. Belcampo Murals Our mission was to create a series of Mural paintings for the newly opened Belcampo Meat Co. in San Mateo California. The highly detailed line based murals are influenced by the brand's connection to Mt. Shasta California where the companies farm is based. The large acrylic mural spans 35' feet wide and over 8' feet tall while the secondary mural span 15' feet wide by 15' tall. Along with the murals, are a series of sign paintings found throughout the Belcampo San Mateo location. "Our Farms At The Base of Mt. Shasta!" 5. Sonoma Mural Our mission working with Public Storage was to create a mural painting that reflected the best of Sonoma Counties culture, industry and iconography. Based off this creative briefing we applied our signature collage style format to paint a 13' tall by 40' wide exterior wall mural. Moving from left to right the mural features a bushel of grapes to represent the Sonoma Wine Country, a trout is seen flipping out of the water, as a dairy cow is seen grazing to represent the counties dairy industry. Our state flower the California Poppy blooms while while the mustard flower, a prominent flower to the region sprout up aside the dairy cow painting. A hot air balloon often found floating in the northern end of Sonoma County sports the word "Sonoma" in bold letters" while an old pick up truck ships wine barrels and a chicken pokes it head out of the right hand side of the scene. The murals elements are all laid upon rolling hills and a blue sky. This realistic mural was painted by mural artist Maxfield Bala a Sonoma County native. This 13' foot tall by 40' wide outdoor commercial mural project was painted using acrylics, latex, and aerosols spray paints. It was ultimately clear coated upon our clients request to protect against UV rays and weather as well as graffiti. The public art mural can be seen directly off highway 101 North heading towards San Francisco, Ca. 6. Bay Laurel Culinary Our mission was to develop a detailed interior mural for Bay Laurel Culinary's lobby space within their all-new headquarters. The interior mural we were to develop was to feature and incorporate the bay area in the most heartfelt way possible. The owners wanted to incorporate the San Francisco, Bay Area, the suppliers, partners, and the events, locations and personal history that inspires their cuisine and overall mission. The mural painting is a map of the Bay Area and it surrounding areas from Sonoma to Mendocino, Alameda, and Santa Cruz Counties. The mural is packed with dozens of highly detailed images. Some of the notable Images include the Pt. Reyes lighthouse, Oakland Tribune Building, Berkley's Greek Theater, Alameda Cranes, Yosemite's Half Dome, Sacramento Capital Building, Winchester Mystery House, and the Golden Gate Park Windmill. Other elements relating to their culinary suppliers found within the line work mural painting include crab, sourdough bread, Anchor steam Beer, fresh fruits, wines, and cheese platters. These images were painted on a grey background with white line work to create a chalkboard like effect. 7. 2K Games Mural Our mission working with 2K Games and their motion capture division was to create an interior mural that encapsulated the companies most popular video game titles. We worked closely with the 2K games creative team to develop and design a highly detailed mural painting composition filled with movement, patterns, graphics, and characters. From Stephen Curry dribbling down the court in NBA 2K, to The Rock tackling John Cena in WWE Raw and the Bio Shock Characters ready to leap into action. Other elements found within the mural include mobsters shooting their way out of a heist from Mafia the game, Motion Capture suits, and an Alien from XCOM the game. The 2K Games mural painting was created on a large scale panel for easy movement granted the company changed locations in the future. The mural painting was rendered digitally as pictured below and then recreated using acrylics and aerosol spray paints. This mural painting now hangs in their San Franciso, Bay Area location as a solid reminder of the branches' success. 8. Strava Mural Our mission collaborating with the amazing Jennet Liaw and Strava was to paint office murals for Strava HQ in San Francisco, Ca. Jennet Liaw is an "independent designer slash illustrator living and working in NYC and the internet, respectively." Using artist Jennet Liaw's brilliant design, we painted her illustration to exact specifications requested by the tech giant. The mural spanning 35' wide and 12' tall features a variety of unique icons, symbols, and illustrations in Jennet's unique style. The two murals feature black, White and Strava Orange to read "Connect athletes to what motivates them" a slogan that runs true throughout the Stava San Franciso office employees. Our team painted the interior murals during off-hours to avoid interrupting the workplace environment. 9. Lagunitas Brewing Co. Mural Our mission working with The Lagunitas Brewing Company was to develop a promotional mural as part of the brand's Couch Tripping Campaign. We completed this mural within the Brewery,s bottling warehouse location. Beers hustled pass on the conveyer belt as we played down the paint for this mural project, to be used as part of the company's Couch Trippin' beer and musical tour release. The mural features a combination of artist Maxfield Bala's personal style and Lagunitas's set branding features. Ultimately seeing a gigantic armadillo destroying the Lagunitas Brewery and shooting laser beams at the Coach Tripping bus. Within the Bus are the Lagunitas Dog and Little Something Lady hoping to escape the beast as they run down a saguaro cactus. Were thirsty just thinking about this interior mural painting project! 10. Welcome to Petaluma Mural Our mission working with Public Storage and Terrapin Investments was to create a large scale Outdoor mural project that inspires and wholeheartedly represents the community of Petaluma, California, a small town about 45 minutes north of San Francisco, California. Muralist Maxfield Bala worked with the client to create a modernized version of the classic "Welcome to" postcard as a way to represent the City of Petaluma in a fun, vibrant and creative way. Each letter is filled with local iconography that helps tell a story relative to Petaluma's vibrant history and culture. The letter "P" features the Petaluma Clocktower, Letter "E" features the Petaluma River, Letter "T" features the Petaluma History Museum, Letter "A" features the McNear Building, and Letter "L" features Eggs as part of the town history as the Egg Capital of the world. The letter "U" features the old bank building a Downtown Petaluma fixture, Letter "M" features the Petaluma Grain Elevator and finally, Letter "A" features a chick. The "Welcome to Petaluma" mural is located off Highway 101 North heading towards San Francisco. The 13' tall by 40' mural was painted using a variety of materials including acrylics, latex, and aerosol paints and was sealed with a UV / weather resistant and a graffiti proof clear coat to further protect the exterior mural painting. Click here for Greetings From Petaluma Shirts and Prints

It's no secret that a fresh coat of paint can do wonders to a home, public area, or business. Applying that same principal to a well painted mural and the results can literally transform an area. The lackluster blank office wall, the old storage shed or the overlooked public area can be turned into an immersive hub primed for social gatherings, and the promotion of ideas. For schools it offers a renewed learning space,. For offices a way to improve the workplace mentality, and for a public area to renew a rough area and promote community values. Attached below are prime examples of how murals can transform an area: Sonoma Hills Farm: Before/ After Penngrove Elementary School: Before/ After Casa Grande High School: Before/ After Petaluma High School: Before/ After Petaluma Mural: before/ after We hope the before and after pictures help do much of the talking!

Our mission working with the Iconic Jefferson Airplane, Jampol Artist Management and Sony Music was to create an iconic mural based off The Airplane's "Volunteers" album. For the album's 50th anniversary we went back to the band's roots in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District to paint a mural that would celebrate the revolutionary albums cover artwork. Painted on one of our rentable wall locations in the San Francisco area artist Maxfield Bala spent four days painting this 13'0" H X 36'0" W mural to spec. With thousands bound to see this mural a day, we couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate the album's release and introduce new listers to Jefferson Airplane.

We're here to highlight two of our latest mural painting artist Maxfield Bala and his team have painted in the San Francisco, Bay Area. These include a live painting for Twilio in the heart of San Francisco and a rural mural painted in Sonoma County. TWILIO Mural Activation Our mission working with Twilio was to create a mural painting for the 2025 Signal Conference Event at the Marriot Marquis in San Francisco, California. Our goal was to develop a mural that would pay homage to the Twilio's history and legacy as a company. We accomplished this goal through an iconic postcard style mural painting that featured a variety of iconography pertinent to Twilio. Hand painting the mural to 85% completion before transporting the mural to the Signal Event where muralist Maxfield Bala live painted and completed the mural as event patrons watched and enjoyed the process. The mural was then taken down and moved to the Twilio office's in San Fransisco where it was installed and will reside for many years to come! Live painting Mural activation for Signal 2025 in San Francisco. Live Painting by Maxfield Bala for the Signal Conference in San Francisco. The completed postcard style mural for Twilio. DUNHAM Mural Our mission working with Dunham School was to create a mural that would pay homage to the agricultural roots of Western Sonoma Country region. The students from the school largely come from backgrounds in the agricultural field. The mural painting itself pulled inspiration from farm animals within the area. Moving from right to left the mural features a duck, horse, sheep, and cow, among native flowers to the area being mustard and poppy flowers. Green rolling hills filled with oak trees line the murals background. The mural faces the school's parking lot, turns around the area and greets students, staff, and guardians each school day.   Completed Mural for Dunham School in rural Petaluma Mural features local farm animals. Completed Mural for Dunham School in rural Petaluma by Maxfield Bala.

We've complied the top five amazing office mural paintings we've created for our clients in the San Francisco, Bay Area. From tech offices in the heart of Silicon Valley, to high rise skyscrapers, and suburban headquarters we've painted murals in offices throughout the bay area that cater to a variety of unique clients seeking various design styles. These interior wall paintings are developed in close collaboration with our clients and are painted to spec, often around our clients normal work hours to avoid workplace interruption. We believe that mural paintings in offices create an environment that facilitates team building, enhanced productivity and promotes a unified workplace culture. All while enhancing brand recognition, impressing clients, and attracting talent into your office workplace. Here are the top five office murals we've painted for our clients: Kaiser Permanente Pediatric Office Mural Painting- Redwood City, Ca Kaiser Permanente Hospital Office Mural- Redwood City, Ca Our mission working with Kaiser Permanente and Art advisors was to create a digital mural painting for the Redwood City pediatric department office. Our clients requested a wall mural painting with iconic world sites completed with relevant plants, animals, and fruitful landscapes. Moving from left to right the mural includes St. Basels Church in Russia, the Golden Gate Bridge, Rice Terraces in the Philippines, Mt. Fuji in Japan, the Acropolis in Greece, Victoria Falls in Africa, Taj Mahal in India, Pola Island in Samoa, El Castillo Pyramid in Mexico, The Great Wall of China, and Big Ben in England. All among animals like the Panda, abstract forms, plants, and insects like the monarch butterfly.  The idea was to create an immersive scene in the pediatric waiting room that children and adults could interact with and enjoy. An immersive environment that allows viewers to discover hidden gems and learn about some of the world's wonders. This mural was painted digitally and applied to the wall thanks to the great people at the Blow-Up lab in San Francisco. The mural stands at just over eight feet tall and spans over thirty feet wide with special accommodations for outlets, light and a television. Strava Headquarters Office Mural Paintings- San Francisco, Ca Strava HQ Mural, San Francisco, Ca Strava HQ Mural, San Francisco, Ca Strava HQ Mural, San Francisco, Ca Our mission collaborating with the amazing Jennet Liaw and Strava was to paint office murals for Strava HQ in San Francisco, Ca. Jennet Liaw is an "independent designer slash illustrator living and working in NYC and the internet, respectively." Using artist Jennet Liaw's brilliant design, we painted her illustration to exact specifications requested by the Strava team. The mural spanning 35' wide and 12' tall features a variety of unique icons, symbols, and illustrations in Jennet's unique artistic style. The two murals feature black, White and Strava's signature Orange to read "Connect athletes to what motivates them" a slogan that runs true throughout the Stava San Franciso office employees. Our team painted the interior murals during off-hours to avoid interrupting the workplace environment.  Our next mission mission working with Strava was to implement a more permanent solution towards their vinyl floor graphics found in their San Francisco , Headquarters location. Initially, the Strava office featured a series of vinyl floor graphics that were subject to peeling, ripping and excessive wear. In a day's time, we converted the vinyl graphics into hand-painted directional and aesthetic floor graphics throughout the San Francisco office thus implementing a more permanent solution. We used a variety of specialty industrial floor paints and polyurethane clear coats to achieve a highly durable sign painting meant to withstand heavy use from Strava employees. Various graphics and sign paintings included directional wording, bike storage, shower sign, and arrows. The largest graphics of spanned over 20' x 20' and featured a topographic look for the company's communal space.  Tesla Motors Engineering Headquarters Office Mural Paintings- Palo Alto, Ca Tesla Motors Office Mural- Palo Alto, Ca Our Mission working with Tesla was to create a large scale mural painting for their new Palo Alto offices in the heart of Silicon Valley. We replicated artwork developed by the Tesla Design team. The mural titled the “Cyber Bear” pays homage to the Tesla Cybertruck and the California State flag which features a large roaring Grizzly Bear. The mural features this grizzly bear atop earth toned geometric shapes while walking up the office staircase. A green grassy scene featuring the same geometric shapes sits on the frontal staircase area while Tesla Cyber Trucks- made to look more like fish, fly outside of the bears mouth. The mural painting spans over 20’ tall by 20’ wide in its total capacity and was painted on a quick turnaround time to meet the needs of client. United Stated Geological Service Office Mural Paintings- Mountain View, Ca USGS Office Mural- Mountain View, Ca USGS Office Mural- Mountain View, Ca Our mission with USGS was to create a mural painting for their new laboratory at the NASA Moffet Field facility in Mountain View, California. The brand new building featured a large entry area the beckoned a mural worthy of the stunning new facility that consolidated the USGS labs. The mural spans across two stories and amongst a sprawling staircase to create a mural measuring 55'0"W  X 25'0"H. The mural painting itself features a topographic map of the majestic Yosemite Valley complete with river designations and a map directory. The map itself was translated to specification per the requests of the USGS team.  Rendr Offices Mural Painting- San Francisco, CA Rendr Office Mural- San Francisco, CA Our mission with Render Cloud Technologies in San Francisco, California was to create a mural painting that reflected the companies branding, mission and culture through a series of abstract forms. These abstract forms resembling the brand icon work together to form movement and depth through a series of transparent overlays and the painting transferred into the secondary wall.  Bala Creative has been painting murals for the past ten years in the San Francisco, Bay Area and has worked with some of the world's largest brands to ensure stunning murals are painted at their office locations. We are fully licensed mural painters with a key artistic eye in design and practice at large scale mural painting and intricate sign paintings. Interested in seeing more of our office mural paintings for companies like Rivian , Betterhelp, dropbox, and 2k Games? Click the photos below to learn more. Rivian Office Mural Rivian Office Mural- San Jose, CA Betterhelp Offices Mural Betterhelp Office Mural- Mountain View, Ca Dropbox Mural Dropbox Mural- San Francisco, Ca

The simple answer is yes , you need a contractor's license in California at the present time. According to the California State Licensing Board " Contractors who engage in extensive painting and decorating work on various structures and surfaces, and whose project costs surpass $500, are required to hold a C-33 license." As mural painters we are in theory partaking in extensive painting and decorating and are subject to procuring a license. We are writing this blog post as of March 2025, with rules and regulations subject to change at any time. We are not lawyers and are in no way offering any sort of legal advice, but are simply sharing our opinion and experience as a mural painting company based out of the San Francisco Bay Area who have procured their own C-33 License in California. We cannot verify the accuracy of this article but have done our best to provide you with our knowledge working to obtain our license as mural painters. Mural painter Maxfield Bala atop a scissor lift in Santa Clara, Ca. Mural Painting and Contractors Licenses When beginning their mural painting careers in California, Muralist Maxfield Bala and Bala Creative painted murals without a contractor license as the vast majority of mural artists operate. The thought being that "we are artists, and not painting contractors." However, insurance companies, city governments, and larger corporate clients requirements quickly made it evident that mural painting without a contractor's license in the state of California could be against the law and subject our team to fines, penalties, and even lawsuits based on the organization.  We ultimately were required to obtain a license in order to legally paint murals, procure basic insurance and hire employees under the current laws and quickly took the steps to become a C-33 painting contractor in California. A contractors license as a muralist can be a challenge to procure as you will need to meet the following requirements in California: Age :  Be at least 18 years old.  Social Security Number of ITIN You need four years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervisor, or licensed painting contractor within the last ten years.  Completion of trade-specific and law & business exams necessary for licensure. CSLB verification of identity and criminal history for all contractors. Payment of licensing fees to CSLB. Procurement of all necessary insurance including General Liability and Workman's Compensation insurance and $25,000 Contractor License bond.  Renewal of your contractor's license every two years while maintaining good practices  Mural painters should have a fundamental understanding of the walls they are painting and some training may be necessary in order to properly prep, paint and seal murals safely. The education and training these licensing requirements provide offer a mural painter a heightened level of quality, safety, and efficiency for their artwork from start to finish. Helping to save you money, away from legal woes, and giving you a better understanding of your business.  For example artists going from a small canvas to a large wall mural without a contractor license may have no training in painting large surfaces and not fully understand the most effective methods to prepare and prime certain surfaces like masonry or metal surfaces. These surfaces when, prepped incorrectly and this can result in paint failing prematurely and in some cases can cause damage to the building's structure. Leaving the metal to corrode, the wood to rot, or the stucco to fail. Weeks of mural painting can be destroyed because the primer did not hold properly to the surface. With the proper training and certifications one can learn the proper prepping and painting methods to avoid disaster. Its the knowledge that comes with a license that can help avoid these mishaps. The safety a license and qualified experience brings you and your team might be the most important aspect to a license. A lack of experience operating lifts or working on elevated surfaces can result in extreme fall hazards not only to the mural artist but those passing by. Operating against CalOsha safety standards regardless of your knowledge of these rules can leave you subject to extreme fines. Again, With the proper training and certifications one can learn the proper safety methods to avoid potentially deadly mishaps and legal woes. It took us countless hours to procure our C-33 painting and decorating license as mural painters in California but at the end of the day it helped provide us with a better understanding of how to paint murals, run our business, and meet a wide swath of legal requirements and regulations applied by insurance companies, and the state of California. This has helped open us up to paint bigger projects that become more efficiently and effectively for our clients. Scissor lift experience. Maxfield Bala Creative is a fully licensed C-33 Painting and Decorating Contractor operating out of the San Francisco Bay area as a mural painting company. License number CSLB C-33 #1120177. Please contact us if you're looking for a mural painting company with an active contractors license to paint your next mural project in California.

Our mission working with Visit Oxnard was to paint a large-scale mural for the exterior of the Oxnard Transit Center. The Oxnard Transit Center is within Downtown Oxnard, California and is the hub to Amtrak Trains and local bus routes offering transportation to areas across the state of California and throughout the United States. This hub offers the perfect opportunity to leave a lasting mark to those not only within the community but those passing by and visiting the Oxnard area as well. The mural features an iconic vintage postcard aesthetic with a stylistic twist by our lead muralist Maxfield Bala. The mural spans 40 feet wide and 12 feet tall and was painted using a variety of high quality paints over a multi surface brick wall. We worked with Visit Oxnard to feature iconography most pertinent to the Oxnard area. This iconography landed us with an oceanic base with a parasailed off the coast, waves breaking onto the shore and a beach carrying up to the surrounding mountain range. A sea lion commonly found off Hollywood Beach looks towards the Bold Oxnard Lettering. The Letter O features the Oxnard Pagoda. The X features two luscious strawberries. The N features a Chevy Impala parked outside one of Oxnard's beaches. The A features a sailboat exiting Seabridge. The N features a Channel Island Fox endemic to the Channel Island National Park just off the Oxnard coastline. The D includes a pair of boxing gloves paying homage to Oxnard's world champion boxing legacy. To protect the mural we've applied a high quality UV resistant clear coat to keep the mural looking like new for decades to come. We're excited to see the virility of this mural for those visiting Oxnard and looking to share their time in the area! Check out the time lapse of this mural come to life below: Check out our other postcard style murals here: Greetings From San Francisco: https://www.maxfieldbala.com/greetingsfromsanfrancisco Greetings From Eastvale: https://www.maxfieldbala.com/greetingsfromeastvale Welcome to Petaluma: https://www.maxfieldbala.com/welcometopetaluma

Large scale mural paintings are no easy feat to achieve. Bala Creative founder Maxfield Bala compares the jump from standard mural painting to large scale mural painting like the jump from Canvas painting to mural painting. The process of going really big with a mural painting requires a new set of techniques, equipment, and way of thinking when painting murals. Small brush strokes and tiny spray caps are replaced with airless spray guns, 5" wide brushes, and super fat spray caps. leaning your head back to view the walls composition turns into a short walk in order to view the wall from a distance. Ladders and step stools are replaced by articulating boom lifts, leveraging you over 50' high. Small details on a mural that might be one foot in height, quickly become five feet in height. It's this combination of factors that make large scale mural painters a unique breed comparative to those painting smaller murals. When we began painting large scale murals it was a gradual process. smaller 8' x 8' walls became 10' x 20' walls that become 15' x 30' walls and ultimately walls over 30' x 100' walls. We slowly learned to go larger and larger with our murals inheriting technique after technique on the way. Building our skill sets to become proficient in safety, skill, and equipment catalog. Going from only using ladders to an articulating boom lift is quite the jump but going from a ladder to a small scissor lift is much easier. likewise, hoping from from blending with small brushes to a multicolor airless spray set up is a big jump. It can take years before your able to master these skills at a high level. Our founder Maxfield Bala painted homes for years while emerging as a young artist in the San Francisco Bay area and learned more production style techniques towards the preparation and painting of large scale surfaces that have transcended into our large scale mural paintings. When commencing a large scale mural painting its important to understand that garbage in is garbage out, A wall not properly prepped through power washing, sanding and cleanings paired with a high quality primer can destroy a mural painting before its even finished. However a wall properly prepped can allow the large scale mural painting to last for decades. The primer and/ or block filler paint will serve as the glue that helps bind your paint to the wall and help create a smoother surface for enhanced blending. Large scale pieces can require additional attention during the development process due to their scale and visibility. Theres no doubt that even small murals can invoke wonder, curiosity and even some backlash. Large scale works amplify those feelings and can drastically alter the entire feel of a neighborhood due to their encompassing size. We always recommend painting murals that are from the heart and take into account the environment and community. Input on these pieces are often welcomed and will ultimately create a piece thats celebrated both by the artist and those members who see it every day. Take some extra time to understand that the images in the mock up you create might be stories tall and carry a whole new meaning to some because of their size. Painting large scale murals require the same materials as large scale murals. Its more about the equipment used to apply said materials. Use the same brushes, spray tips, and ladders your using on a small mural and you will find yourself taking ten times longer to paint the mural with less than satisfactory results. Blends that span 8' in length just simply don't work with small scale equipment. Just like hauling paint up and down an extension ladder just doesn't work compared to the large scale painting platform of a scissor lift. Successful mural painters understand efficiency in safety, techniques, and application in regards to equipment. You can still use your favorite house paints, spray cans, and clear coats, just make sure your equipment allows you to go large scale. Perspective changes when painting a large scale mural. The idea of painting remains the same but expect to use more of your body when painting at this scale. The line work that requires only a flick of the wrist on a smaller scale piece become a leg squat paired with full arm extension. Take the time to walk back on your piece and view the mural from multiple angles as you progress on a piece of this scale. Ensure you apply a roadmap, or doodle grid so you can understand your location on the wall. Knowing where to apply color becomes trickier when visual sketch markers are out of site. If the piece looks almost messy from close up thats ok. Your expanding on details to a unique scale that when viewed from far away or almost unseen or contribute to the realism. Finally understand your working up stories up in the air. Take the time to become lift certified, wear harnesses, and apply best practices to ensure you, your team, and those passerby's or kept safe from falling hazards. Going big means thinking bigger than normal from a safety perspective. Know that large scale murals take time to paint. At first doubling the scale, of your work will mean double the time to create the piece. However once the techniques and equipment are inherited, the large scale mural becomes only fractionally more time consuming than a smaller wall. Maxfield Bala Creative LLC has painted dozens of large scale mural painting in the United States. We're fully licensed contractors with the insurance and team often required by companies to paint at such a large outdoor walls. With over ten years of experience we specialize in custom murals developed by Maxfield Bala and our team and the recreation of to specification artwork designated by the client. Here are a few big murals we've painted: SAND CITY Mural in Sand City, Ca Our mission working with We. Create Artist Gathering and the city of Sand City was to develop and paint a large scale mural painting during the week long mural festival taking place from August 23- August 30th, 2021. We collaborated with Colorado based artist Pat Milbery and Monterey based artist Hannah Brimmer on this huge mural spanning just over 60 feet wide and 25 feet tall. The mural depicts a variety of local animals including the Sharp-Shinned Hawk, Ringtail Cat, Great Blue Heron, Allen's Hummingbird, Leatherback Turtle and the Monarch Butterfly among an assortment of plant life and an abstract landscape of the Monterey Bay. The scene is seemingly made visible through the building cracking bricks revealing the nature bursting through. Lead muralist Maxfield Bala painted the wildlife area's while Pat Milbery painted the landscape scenes. The mural was painted over the course of one week in the center of Sand City, California. LAGUNITAS MURAL Mural in Las Vegas. NV Our Mission was to create a gigantic commercial mural advertisement for the world renown Lagunitas Brewing Company in Las Vegas, Nevada. The wall itself was an aggregate rock wall leaving us with the task of conquering the tricky surface and turning it into a work of art. The mural features the Lagunitas text logo in the companies signature purple color. Each letter stands over 20' tall. To the right the companies "knock out" character punches a 25' tall Lagunitas IPA bottle through the wall as it cracks and crumbles away. The outdoor mural advertisement spans over 130' wide and 30' tall making for it one of the cities largest sign paintings to date. Completed in under five days to meet a tight deadline this mural painting is seen and photographed by thousands of highway and street side passerby's everyday. This mural is located Right next to the Shelby Carroll Car Museum and just off the Las Vegas Strip this exterior wall. Makes us thirty just thinking about it! SPARE THE AIR Mural in Emeryville, Ca Our mission working with the Bay Area Air Quality Management district, Spare the Air campaign, Allison and Partners and Bay Street Emeryville was to create a large scale mural painting to beautify the Bay Street Campus in collaboration with supporting the Spare the Air campaign.  The Air District’s goal is to keep the air for Bay Area residents safe, by encouraging alternative options to single car trips. In the city of Emeryville, we’d like to remind passersby that the Bay Area is an active, inclusive community, with so many accessible options for making your commute and transportation healthier for all (walk, bike, train, bus, ferry, or even a hybrid of bike+mass transit. Keeping this idea in mind we strategically developed a concept to fit a dynamic mural that would work for all parties involved. The proposed site featured a vast variety of surface levels, surface materials and obstructions like doors, vents, railings and lights. These factors called for a dynamic mural design with strategically placed images in order to remove image distortion and effectively promote the values of our artistic vision and the Spare the Air campaign. Through multiple design rounds with input from the Mayor of Emeryville we landed on a colorful design paying homage to the relationship of public transit's ability to create a cleaner environment friendly to the bay area's natural habitats and wildlife. This included the feature of active modes of transportation like bike riding, cycling and electric scooter riding along with more traditional modes like the bus or train. Moving from left to right the mural features a Monarch butterfly and bicycle rider. A rider enters an electric double decker bus as a Great Blue Heron flies by. A cyclist looks back onto reeds breaking way to a Pelican. The mayor of Emeryville's dog pokes in head out from the bottom of the scene while an electric scooter rider paces down the bay front pathway. A Plover bird native to the local wetlands spread its wings aside a California Golden Poppy flower and a large Spare the Air logo. A man takes his bike off the train to the right of this logo while bold colors layered upon one another help to create movement, and depth throughout the mural. The mural took three weeks to complete and spans 110' wide and over 13' tall and was clear coated with an anti graffiti coating to have it outlast the elements. The mural is a permanent installation in Emeryville, California and was painted by our lead muralist, Maxfield Bala in conjunction with our mural team. USGS MURAL Mural in Mountain View, Ca Our mission with USGS was to create a mural painting for their new labroatory at the NASA Moffet Field facility in Mountain View, California. The mural spans across two stories and amongst a sprawling staircase to measure at roughly 55'0"W  X 25'0"H. The mural painting itself features a topographic map of the magestic Yosemite Valley complete with river designations and a map directory. The map itself was translated to specification per the requests of the USGS team.  AGRIHOOD SANTA CLARA Mural in Santa Clara, Ca. The Largest of the mural paintings at the Agrihood housing development is a three story corrugated metal water tower. The curved water tower required a series of unique design and painting techniques in order to properly develop and transfer the mural design. The mural paintings design features a series of local wildlife including a great blue heron and Monarch Butterflies among Apricot blossoms and other local flowers. The murals required two months to paint and were treated with a series of protective UV and graffiti resistant clear coats to protect and preserve the murals for years to come.