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Strolling through the Las Cruces Farmer’s and Crafts Market on a Saturday morning, you will find families, friends and visitors stopping to take pictures in front of the “Con Amor” mural that was painted by local artist Anahy Nuñez.
Nuñez was born and raised in Las Cruces and says, “When I drive by, I still trip out and can’t believe that happened!”
She has been doodling or drawing as long as she could remember. “With my ADHD, my mom worked at a craft store and found the only way I would sit still was when I was doing crafts or drawing,” she said. At school she would doodle all over her notebooks and found that her passion grew with time.
While she started going the academic route for art, she quickly found it wasn’t the right path for her and left college to pursue her passions. “I love art, and I found I have to get… whatever this is (inside of me) out.”
When asked what her medium is, she laughed and said she does so much: from tattoos, to painting, makeup art for movies, murals and whatever helps her express herself best.
She hasn’t been alone on this journey. Her husband, Aaron Valenzuela, is right by her side with his artwork as well. Together they opened Atom Bomb Studio in 2012, located at 232 N. Campo St., in Las Cruces. This is their tattoo studio where they showcase their art and cultivate a creative environment for them to flourish.
This year the couple has been traveling the country going to tattoo conventions. At the end of September, they attended one of the last ones of the year in El Paso. So far this year they have been to Albuquerque, Philadelphia, Denver, Fort Worth, Phoenix, and even traveled to Hawaii for these conventions. While they have been everywhere for them, they say the best one is still the one in Albuquerque.
Nuñez talks passionately about her work in all forms, yet says the mural she did for a Visit Las Cruces competition was one of the craziest experiences with her work. There were 65 applicants from across the country who applied to do the 860-square-foot mural for Visit Las Cruces, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.
“This was the largest instillation to date, it was crazy with the weather and heights, but still so much fun,” Nuñez said.
Having grown up in Las Cruces, she loves passing by the water towers that are painted around the town and has always remembered them and wanted to leave her mark. Through her mural, which is also displayed on the cover of the official visitors’ guide for Visit Las Cruces, she says she is still in awe of being able to leave this love letter and mark on the town that has helped shape her into the artist she is today.
Moving forward, Nuñez is looking to take a step back the rest of the year from traveling for tattoo conventions and doing makeup work on movies. She is looking forward to sitting down and doing some painting, to recharge and see what comes next.
You can find Nuñez and Valenzuela at their shop most days, doing tattoos and enjoying the joys of their crafts. They are planning a block party on Oct. 26 in their back lot at the Atom Bomb Studio. There will be flash tattoos, music, food and dressing up for the Halloween holiday that soon follows. They update their Instagram page, @atombombstudiotattoos, with information and their work and their website is atombombstudio.com.
