Local muralist The Desert Pen beautifies Tucson with her artwork

With a name like Pen, you’re bound to thrive in the creative spotlight.

That’s exactly what local artist and muralist Peniel Macias, also known as The Desert Pen, is doing with her brightly colored, exuberant and often desert-themed murals that have graced the walls of some Tucson businesses and homes since 2018. 

Her most recent work in the Wooden Tooth Records parking lot off of Fourth Avenue features a desert scene with large native Sonoran Desert birds. It's meant to be interactive — for a fun photo, you can stand next to the birds and act like you’re feeding them. The mural includes pops of pinks, greens, blues and yellow. 

“Just adding beauty to the community,” she says. “That’s what gives me the energy to keep doing it, is just when the community sees a piece of artwork and it, you know, makes their day better and adds beauty. That's what really keeps me motivated to keep going.”

Other works of Macias include the “Welcome to Oro Valley” postcard mural at the Oro Valley Marketplace, the portrait of a woman blowing a bubble with a vibrant rainbow background inside Hotel McCoy and a community-driven mural at the Boys and Girls Club of Tucson's Holmes Tuttle clubhouse, featuring the hobbies and passions of the kids who go there. 

But those aren’t all of the murals she’s created. The number of murals she’s completed in Tucson could be anywhere from “one to infinity,” she jokes. Over the last 18 months, she says she’s tried to complete one mural per month. 

The mural process typically takes a few weeks to complete, from the very beginning planning stages to fully installing the mural onto its forever home.

“I take one week to create sketches, one week to create a design, one week to modify it and then I'm installing the artwork,” Macias says. “It varies based on how huge the artwork is. Some are just like one-day jobs and then the longest I've ever taken is two weeks to install a mural.”

When going through the mural-planning process, Macias keeps in mind the wish list of the client while putting her own creative touch on the piece.

One of Macias’ personal favorites is a mural on a local residence along Alvernon Way that showcases desert flora, a black-throated sparrow and plenty of bold colors and geometric shapes. Other favorites include a mural she created for Cobra Arcade’s Cobrapalooza Block Party last year of a woman with cacti sprouting from her head and, of course, the “Welcome to Oro Valley” postcard mural.

“I love when I'm up on the wall painting,” Macias says. “It's almost like a zen experience of like adding colors and creating something. And then you take a few steps back and look at the huge picture and there's just, like, a rush of adrenaline when you look back. Because when you're up against the wall, you see the few feet that are immediately in front of you. And then you take a step back and see the whole picture. It is such a thrilling experience.”

Leaving a creative mark on Tucson 🖊️

Macias was born to be an artist.

“I never could not be an artist,” she says. “Starting at a young age, I went to an arts magnet school, so I gained a lot of, like, art skills as a young person. And it was just a trajectory. I could never not be an artist because it's just how I'm made.”

The artist created her first mural when she was just 15 years old, growing up in Alabama. Nearly 20 years ago, Macias traded the Deep South for the Old Pueblo and never looked back.

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Even though she already had friends in Tucson, she thought her initial stay was going to be a “short stint,” she says, but after meeting her now husband here, who grew up in Southern Arizona, they knew that they were Tucson “lifers.”

Now, the 36-year-old artist and full-time mom of four creates multiple murals every year, along with signage for local businesses and desert-themed stickers, prints and other paper goods that she sells on her website.

“That's why it's so great to be able to have a side thing that’s just for, you know, my growth and creativity, besides just taking care of humans,” Macias says. “I love the creative challenge of making something that's never been made before. … I think that's what really gives me energy, is when I can create something completely, completely different than anything I've ever done before.”

Despite aspiring to keep things fresh and new in her creative projects, Macias says creating murals isn’t going away anytime soon. She believes she is currently on the “right track” with making murals that inspire her.

“I have so much appreciation for our community,” Macias says. “I feel like Tucson is wild for art. I feel like any artist who has a desire to create art is gonna just, you know, soak it up. I feel like we have so many opportunities everywhere you turn. … Like, we, the Tucson community, are wildly supportive of the arts in a way that a lot of communities, a lot of cities, probably aren't as much as our town.”

To learn more about local muralist Pen Macias, subscribe to our ✨NEW✨ #ThisIsTucson Rewind newsletter for exclusive content that you can only find in our free monthly newsletter! Here's a sneak peek:

✨Bonus Q&A with Pen Macias✨

What is your favorite color? “Black.” (When I followed up and asked why that particular color was her favorite, she joked “just like my heart.”)

Who is your favorite artist? “Ignacio Garcia. I mean Van Gogh's cool and stuff, but Ignacio Garcia, his work is amazing.”

What is your favorite TV show? “Gilmore Girls.”

What is your favorite restaurant in Tucson? “I love Tumerico and Seis (Kitchen).”

Where is your favorite place to shop in Tucson? “Pop Cycle on Fourth Avenue.”

What is your favorite thing about Tucson? “I love the art community here. Or maybe Fourth Avenue. I love Fourth Avenue.”