WASHINGTON — Patrick Kirwin always showed a proclivity towards art. He hadn't even started learning arithmetic before his parents got a sense of his talents.
"I became an artist when I was five years old and I drew on the walls of my parents' house. They loved it so much (sarcastically) they put me in art school so I wouldn't draw on walls, I’d draw on paper," Kirwin said.
Kirwin's life has truly come full circle because now at 62 years old, he was on his knees with a paintbrush in his hands inside Northwest D.C.'s 'Tiny Tiki' restaurant and bar drawing giant Easter Island heads on the walls.
"It started when COVID hit and I was approached by the business owner to do some murals here," Kirwin said.
The business at 1914 9th Street in Northwest Washington is split into three different establishments and Kirwin is just finishing up after working on all three.
The aforementioned 'Tiny Tiki' is on the ground floor, '1914' is a north Vietnamese cuisine restaurant on the 2nd level and '9U' is an elegant bar situated on the top level. It is scheduled to open sometime this spring.
The restaurant is anchored by a section painted by Kirwin to resemble a train rumbling through a restaurant district in Hanoi. For a time, restaurant patrons would enjoy their fare while sitting on the railroad tracks and then get up when a slow-moving train would approach.
Authorities put a stop to the practice after too many selfie-taking tourists created a hazard for the train operators.
You can read a review of the cuisine at '1914' HERE.
The third-floor lounge level features a magnificent light-up quartz bar and 'neo geo' art done by Kirwin. The neo-geometric painting completes the ambiance of the entire indoor space in a way to perpetually captivate an onlooker based upon their perspective.
Kirwin is an expert in 'Trompe-l'oeil', an art style that projects a 3D experience. The art is a seamless illusion that brings a vivid life-like feeling to the business.
"Especially since it's been so innovative and creative, it was a dream come true and it’ll be sad to be finished," said Kirwin.
Jeffrey Thelin has a goal to create a piece of art every day for ten years straight.