Kech created this mural to bring color and interest to a central point in Playa Hermosa, where the main road and second beach entrance meet.  Enthusiastic to explore a new technique, he found inspiration in the local community and the mosaic work that has been iconic to this town–find mosaics installed on beach tables, trash receptacles, signs, gate-houses, and in the homes and restaurants.  A tribute to the artists, local initiatives, and community, this mural celebrates Costa Rica’s vibrant natural beauty and encourages us to continue to care for the land and sea.

​The Garden Party Benefit this Sunday June 7th is a great opportunity to connect with the cause and support Playa Hermosa’s environmental initiatives. Join the fun at La Gaviota Tropical Jardines 4:00 -7:00 PM with live music, artists booths, silent auction, and raffle.  

And the following weekend June 11th-14th you have a unique opportunity to witness murals in the making as forty artists transform Playas del Coco public spaces at the Summer Camp Graffiti Jam.  Connect with Kech and the other artists Thursday evening at The Palms, watch them paint Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and the weekend will close with a celebration Sunday night at Zi’s.  More event details are posted on their page: @SummerCampGraffitiJam

Kendall 'Kech' Valverde

Costa Rican artist Kendall “Kech” Valverde began experimenting with aerosol painting technique at the age of twelve–his first works on the walls in his mother's house, the walls of the school he attended, and throughout San Jose’s city neighborhoods where he grew up.  Kech remembers being drawn to the bubble letters his mother used on his school notebooks to label each subject, and he would sneak spray paint from his father’s workshop to practice this ‘bombing’ style on the walls.  Since these early explorations of ‘tagging’ and ‘bombing’ Kech has been compelled to continually try new techniques and investigate different styles, and although he has not pursued any formal art training, his work has naturally evolved from tags and graffiti lettering into images and expressive murals.  While Kech specializes in large-scale works, as he has expanded into painting on canvases and creating custom hats, he’s developed techniques with airbrush, acrylic, and pen to achieve the smallest of details.  

Culture and community play an important role in Graffiti Art, and Kech has enjoyed traveling, meeting up with this community, and receiving recognition internationally for his work participating in several graffitti festivals throughout Central America.  He’s been an invited artist at the Area 503 Festival in El Salvador in 2012 & 2015; the Hip Hop Revolution Festival in Guatemala in 2012; the Arte de Las Calles Festival in Honduras in 2014; and the Panama Hip Hop Festival in 2024, among others.  Outside of the Hip Hop community, Kech has been invited to share his art as live performance at several music festivals including Envision, Bamboo Base, and Nahual in Costa Rica, and Magma Fest in Nicaragua.  Beyond the creative container in these festival spaces, Kech's passion for the graffiti art style has been further fueled in connecting with other graffiti artists, both those visiting Costa Rica, as well as those he's met in travels to the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, and Kech aspires to explore more of the world, learning about new places through this common lens and witnessing the positive impact of graffiti culture.

Pursuing this path in Graffiti Art has opened many doors for Kech and given him invaluable experiences, and he has always felt compelled to share this within his community.  He has coordinated Hip Hop Festivals and activities for underserved youth in both his hometown neighborhood in San Jose and where he currently resides in Playas del Coco, and he has played a main role sharing this art in both installments of Coco's 'Encuentro Cultural' aimed at uplifting local youth.  Kech has been contracted to paint murals at some of Coco's favorite spots like Tandoor Indian Restaurant, Coconutz Brewhouse, Blue Dream Divers, and Summer-Salt Dive Center, and he played an important role in the Colors Across Costa Rica fundraising project for pandemic relief volunteering to paint eight of the sponsored electricity posts, bringing pops of colorful Costa Rican wildlife to Coco's downtown.  While Kech is excited for his first exhibition  where he will show more than twenty new large-scale works on canvas, and he's looking forward the new possibilities that come with a dedicated art space, painting for himself and for the community in the public space continues to drive his passion.  

Colleen Ehle Patell

Mixed-media figurative artist Colleen Ehle Patell graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Art and Design.  She works with fabric, glass, ceramics, paint, wool, metal, wood, and unconventional materials to create figurative sculptures, wearable art, assemblages, and quilted wall hangings, implementing bright colors, layered textures, and whimsical themes.  As a multifaceted fiber artist, Colleen has won multiple awards for her work. Her passion for color and light continues to inspire her to explore different techniques, and her love for functional art keeps her always looking for new ways to apply and enjoy artistic expression.

Teagan Patell

Born and raised in Stanford, California, Teagan moved to Costa Rica in 2010, where she has enjoyed the peaceful lifestyle that complements her integrative practices in Yoga, Feng Shui, Reiki Energy Healing, Therapeutic Bodywork, and Peak States Trauma Therapy.  Each has been a unique blessing in Teagan’s life, and she is compelled to share the joy of these gifts that encourage self-empowered healing for the individual and for the community.  With this focus, her vision to create a community health and healing space took root in Playas del Coco, and she is so excited about how it has taken shape, and all that we will share in the coming years.     

It has been an amazing experience to implement Feng Shui philosophy in designing and building from start to finish, from the first foundations of choosing the place and connecting with the land, all the way through the small final details of optimally orienting the electric outlet plates.  Some of the Feng Shui principles applied in this project include:

• choosing auspicious home orientation and supportive paint colors;
• directing chi flows (placement of doors, stairs, windows, walkways, lines);
• natural and uplifting proportions (house levels, drawers, cabinets);
• balancing elements (statues, color-choice);
• optimizing health (floor-plan layout, bed placement, window allocation, plumbing and electrical decisions);
• enhancing abundance (door placement, applying mirrors, room mapping, auspicious numbers);
• minimizing clutter (maximizing closed storage space, creating clear site lines); and
• ritual (land clearing, groundbreaking ceremony, creating crystal grids).

Teagan completed Feng Shui Master Training with Amanda Collins in Gorey, Ireland in July, 2016.  She has loved bringing Feng Shui into the home design process and is looking forward to supporting others with their design and build experience.  Teagan is now offering Feng Shui consulting for new builds as well as established homes and commercial spaces, and she plans to begin leading workshops around specific facets of the philosophy.

We'd like to invite our family, friends, and extended circle to join us in celebrating our new space with an evening of art.  Kech has been working over the past several months to create more than twenty new large-scale works in spray paint on canvas, and he's excited to show his paintings in exhibition for the first time.  While most of his pieces depict Costa Rica's beautiful wildlife in vibrant color, we'll include a few of our collaborations with more whimsical compositions and meditative yantras.  Alongside the paintings we will show more than thirty works in glass and mixed-media figurative art by my mother Colleen Patell, and given the passion for art in our family, our daughter Aline will choose a few of her favorite paintings to display as well. 

We invite you to come by to enjoy the art, to help us celebrate the start of an exciting new chapter, and to take a tour of the new space.  We are so proud of how this space is coming together, and we're grateful to our architect and construction contractor Lucas Riviera for his incredible work, expertise, and attitude throughout the design and construction process.  It has been an wonderful experience to create at this magnitude and to put into practice Feng Shui philosophy in a build from the ground up.  We have been so fortunate to work with Lucas and his team who have welcomed and appreciated the Feng Shui principles and practices, and have elevated our ideas and vision to build something much greater than we could have imagined.  

This exhibition and open house is one evening only.  We will have refreshments to share, but feel welcome to bring your own as well and to stay and visit a while.  Although this is a private event at our new family residence and we will not be marketing broadly to the public, we aim to build like-minded community in this space, so please feel free to extend the invitation to your friends and other art enthusiasts.  The artworks will be available for purchase, so plan to come early if you're in the market for something new.  Mostly we are looking forward to bringing together our community again and for all the potential to create together in this new space, so please drop in when you can and be a part of this opening evening.  ~ Teagan