It is raining cats and flamingos in downtown Hayward as local artist Colin Hurley, 28, brings with him a storm of bold colors and crowds of people wanting to see what else he has up his sleeve.
The walls of Crepes de Art, a local family-owned restaurant featuring crepes, are now dripping with color and drenched with vibrant artistic stylings by Hurley as he launched the start of his exhibit last Thursday.
The title of the show, “Colin, Cats and Flamingos,” says it all, as vivid and colorful paintings of cats and flamingos filled the eatery.
Although the theme seemed limited, the variety of the showcase was spectacular.
There were paintings ranging from a few feet tall to merely a couple inches. Every painting was extraordinary and attention grabbing.
With music playing in the background, a line out the door of the building and families gathering all around, the feeling throughout the night was busy and upbeat.
You could almost hear the curiosity of intrigued guests who wanted to know more about this bold and colorful artist.
Hurley has been an artist for 13 years and aspires to make it his profession someday.
He studied at CSU East Bay and even created the flamingo painting located in the Arts and Education building on campus.
Hurley has held many successful art shows in the past. Impressively enough, this was only his third solo art show.
He focuses on post modernism and experiments with many forms of art. He works on canvas, computers and mannequins with a variety of different paints.
“I am very influenced by Tamara de Lempicka, an artist well known for precision and elegance and my friends,” Hurley explained.
One friend in particular, Jenn Meyer, has inspired him so much that he has created an exquisite painting of her for the cover of one of his books of collections, said Hurley.
Hurley’s artwork reaches far beyond just cats and flamingos. For interested guests, he laid out several books of his past work, which ranged from abstract designs to famous celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson.
Hurley had a great impact not only on people visiting the art show specifically but walk-in customers as well.  He has proven himself to be quite the stand-out artist.
“I like coming here for the crepes, but I’ve never seen a real art show here,” said Jayme Zahn, walk-in customer and sophomore at CSUEB. “They usually just have a bunch of cool pictures up on the wall. I like the cats and flamingos and I’ve never seen this place so busy.”
Alma Cadena, owner of Crepes de Art, was very pleased with Hurley’s pieces and the show itself.
“Colin’s show was pretty successful,” said Cadena. “People liked the flamingos and even bought some of his miniature cat paintings. A lot of people came to see Colin’s art and we just so happened to have another even going on so even more people were able to come see his show.”
The “Colin, Cats, & Flamingos” showcase has been successful for the business, the community and for the artist himself.
Hurley’s art will remain on display for two more weeks and he hopes to continue exhibiting his works at Crepes de Art in the future.