Recently, we met up with Edwin Martinez-Escobar to walk up to his HP Billboard and talk about his life and work here in Reno. Turns out, there is no better spot for his billboard than the Wells Ave. overpass. As a kid, Edwin would walk up the bridge early in the morning to avoid traffic and enjoy the best view of downtown. Back in the day, Wells Ave. was also the spot for local graffiti artists.

“4th Street was it. If you wanted to know, or if you wanted your name to be known, that was the place. Never in a million years would I imagine that I would have a billboard there.”

Edwin’s work can be seen up and down the neighborhood at businesses such as Mi Ranchito, Mr. Crab Seafood Boils, and the new Maharaja Royal Bites, along with many more places around town. From painting murals to tattooing, to even detailing Navy fighter jets and cars, he’s done it all.

“I was an aircraft mechanic, structural mechanic, but part of the structural part was the hydraulics, which is the fins, the rotors, the flaps,” said Edwin. Corrosion control was part of their tasks, and the solution was to paint them. “They saw that I could do all this sh*t and BOOM! You’re going to school to paint.” Ever since, Edwin has been making his living as an artist.

Edwin is a full-time muralist and is participating in a handful of events coming up such as the Brewery Arts Center’s Cinco De Mayo Festival at Fuji Park in Carson City where he will be live painting on Sunday the 5th. He also has plans to paint the UNR Latino Research Center and a few other restaurants this year.