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"You Are The Star" to get a Facial
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Thomas Suriya of Taos, New Mexico had never painted a mural before, or even a portrait. and yet in 1983 he busted with an iconic Hollywood mural on his first try.
Now 24 years later he has returned to LA to give "You are the Star" a touch up.
Thanks to a grant by the Hollywood Arts Council, 59-year-old Suriya is back in town to put some life back into a mural that has been taking all Hollywood can give over two decades.
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Before he came to Los Angeles, Suriya was living in the Northern California mountains with friends, including Michael Attie, whose parents owned the building [that the mural is painted on] and ran a lingerie store on the ground floor. "It was a leap of faith on his part and an adventure for me," he said. "It was pretty intense."
He went on to paint other murals in the city and work as a special effects designer. In 1993 he and his partner, Francine Harrington, moved to Taos, where he paints still-life and desert landscapes and exhibits in local galleries.
"Now I look at it (the mural) and it looks so rough," he said, pointing to James Dean's hand. "I was so ambitious." - AP
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