Staff Writer

Piece by piece, Alex Kaminsky is adding color to downtown Biddeford.

An artist who paints large colorful murals, Kaminsky said it brings him joy to see people look at his artwork.

“It puts a smile on their face. They can look at a mural and get lost in it,” he said.

Kaminsky, 32, recently finished a large mural on the outside wall of New Morning Natural Foods on Main Street in Biddeford. The scene shows various Maine scenes, from rolling mountains to a farmer tilling a field to a lighthouse and church. 

Store owner Paul Ouellette said Kaminsky approached him about creating a mural on the wall, which had crumbling brick. Working together, they created a design that incorporates wild animals and a plane flying a banner that reads “Eat Well for Health.”

“It’s a marked improvement. I like it, it’s nice and bright,” Ouellette said. “We’ve been getting a lot of good feedback.”

Kaminsky has painted murals elsewhere in the city, including at Run of the Mill, Oh Baby! Café and Boston Connection. The New Morning Natural Foods wall was the most difficult landscape Kaminsky has worked on because of the uneven surface, he said.

Though Kaminsky generally paints murals by hand, he had to use cans of spray paint to create this mural. He said he sought advice from friends in his native Brooklyn, N.Y., and from Pete Vitello, a graffiti artist in Biddeford.

Kaminsky said it took him roughly 100 hours over two weeks to complete the mural. The wall is 30 feet tall at its highest point, he said. Kaminsky said the mural should “stand the test of time” because he glossed it with a coat of water seal.

Kaminsky, who moved to Maine 10 years ago, said he loves being part of the growing community of artists in Biddeford.

“It gives a fire to my soul when I see other artists doing their thing,” he said. “I love seeing people create something coming right from their hearts. You have to put your heart and soul into it. You have to feel it.”