On a Brighter Note

By Pat Sherman / Photos by Jeff “Turbo” Corrigan

?When Pacific Beach artist Krystal Dyer steps to her easel, and the band plugs in, the prospect of watching paint dry suddenly seems a lot more palatable.

The South Jersey native moved to San Diego two years ago for a job in video game animation, and began toting her canvas, colors and brushes to live music venues for inspiration, creating volumes of vibrant art as local bands such as Safety Orange, Ease Up, Boom Culture, Sunny Rude and others jammed.

These days, many bands reserve a spot on stage for her to paint.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do when I get on stage,” Dyer says. “I just kind of let the music take over and I come up with an image and start painting.”

Though she usually paints to reggae or ska, Dyer has dabbled in hip-hop, once rocking out a graffiti art-inspired skateboard deck while the band Concrete Project performed.

“I was dancing on stage while painting,” she says. “I just started grooving. I had to stop myself ‘cause I can’t paint and dance at the same time.”
See Dyer’s work on display at 710 Beach Club & Grill in P.B., and catch her live painting act Tuesday and Sunday Nights at RT’s Longboard Grill.
krystaldyer.com, longboardgrill.com