TRACKING DOWN MURALS >>>

Tacoma loves its murals. It's mural crazy. Sometimes mural show up where you wouldn't expect them - an auto shop, for example. Lloyd & Wilson Auto Service at 631 S. Baker St. has a new mural in its lobby courtesy of up-and-coming Tacoma artist Kaitlyn Lloyd.

Lloyd's family has serviced its cars at the auto shop for years. So when the shop called, Kaitlyn assumed something was wrong with her car. Instead, the auto shop wanted her to paint a mural - her first mural.

"They let me have pretty much free range on this mural and were very receptive to any ideas I had," she says. "I used acrylic paints, since it is an inside painting I thought this would be the best medium to use. It is also fast drying which is great. Nothing like sitting and watching paint dry."

From a young age, Lloyd realized her passion for the arts, which she honed at School of the Arts from 2006 until graduation in 2009. SOTA is a unique branch of the Tacoma Public School system. Located right downtown, the school integrates young artists with the community, from local art shows to requiring students to physically venture out by walking between buildings.

"I learned how to look at art in a different way which helped me develop an appreciation for the process of art through others' hands," says Lloyd. "The School of The Arts shaped me into the artist I am today. I'm forever grateful for those teachers who were always there for me who never gave up because they saw my potential."

Someday, Lloyd hopes to be an art teacher for children, or perhaps an art therapist. Currently, she works at Uncorked Canvas teaching 6- to 80-year-olds how to paint.

Lloyd would love to do more murals and is open to commissioned pieces. She can be reached at klloyd.internship09@gmail.com.