By Samin Vafaee
In the heart of Sacramento’s vibrant art scene, Haley Titus stands out as a creator whose work bursts with color, movement and personality. With her bold murals that light up dormant spaces and blank walls, Titus’s art creates positive energy that resonates with her audiences. The main ethos behind all her work, she says, is unapologetically exhibiting a more feminine version of creating art.
Although her relationship with art was on and off through her adolescence, she eventually went on to study graphic design at Chico State. After working 10 years in the advertising agency world, the pandemic gave Titus time to shift toward publishing her digital art onto blank walls.
“I never thought I’d be working full time in art, but it’s been fun,” Titus says.
Today, her artistic practice includes creating murals, canvas art, ceramics and textiles. “I think I take a bit of a different approach than maybe a fine artist who professionally studied. I take more of a graphical approach of what feels good other than what I was taught to do,” she says.
Titus has found that some of the principles she uses in graphic design — like the Gestalt principles — can be applied to fine arts as well. The Gestalt principles are psychological rules that explain how humans naturally organize visual elements, such as proximity — the spacing between visual elements — or continuity.
Titus’s mural work draws themes from the town the mural is in; such as native plants or local culture and history. She has created murals in places such as Woodland, Lincoln, Lodi and Eureka. Her work is known not only for its bold color palettes and geometric shapes, but also for its positive messaging such as, “Keep Going, Growing, and Glowing” or “You Belong Among the Wildflowers.”
“Sometimes the messaging is based on what I’m experiencing at that time in my life that I feel can help others to feel inspired or expand past their limitations,” she says.
Her artistic process includes walking through a space with her client not only to spark some inspiration, but also to examine the space to keep the art cohesive and flow past the corners. One way she works with her clients is to create collective mood boards so everyone’s visions are taken into consideration.
“The brain wants to finish a shape, so I think just letting it flow feels more natural,” she says. “I try to bring in an eclectic mix of ways to weave in our two different visions.”
With summer approaching, Titus is doing all kinds of work including personal murals in people’s backyards as well as working with the City of Woodland for their Honey Festival on June 21. She will also be part of Sac Open Studios with the Verge Center for the Arts in September; art lovers will be able to enjoy her work on 8th Street in downtown Sacramento.
As a woman in the art industry, Titus is determined to infuse her work with femininity in a way that resonates with people of all identities.
“I sometimes get slack from male audiences that my art isn’t structured enough,” she says. “So I get a lot of praise for the murals, but a lot of people haven’t quite come around to art that’s more flowy and allows for softer edges and things that aren’t as symmetrical and perfect. It’s what speaks to me and I’d like to have part of my practice that’s less controlled and see what comes through. The critics just give you more fuel to keep going.”