I used to think I was so special because I was a “graffiti writer”…
As I got older and saw one of the most important people in my life leave this earth, I realized that I was just another person in this rat race called life.
But if you play your cards right, you might still find some kind of happiness in this fleeting world…
Here are some of my graffiti photos and drawings, enjoy.
www.shermgrafik.com
People search for old stuff from the past and since I’ve had to redo this blog a couple of times, a handful of images are missing or coming up as ‘a page not found’ url. So anyways, this is a screenshot of Mister Cartoon’s blog post from when I got tattooed by him in 2008. It was the most expensive tattoo I’ve ever gotten (2K) because well duh…it’s Mister Cartoon. IYKYK.
I gave him a composite drawing and he gave it his own interpretation. My mom’s nickname was Tita Terri or ‘Terri’ for short. “Tita” means aunt or auntie in Tagalog but we can also call any middle-aged woman “Tita” even though we’re not related.
In between rage cleaning the house while listening to Metallica’s Orion on repeat, I stumbled upon a gif with my custom graphics; it was a repeating background of my first tiger tattoo, a scanned drawing of my angel bunny and a rose I traced over a real photo in Photoshop that I would use for Myspace (IYKYK) back in the early 2000’s. I honestly don’t even know how I did this but of course, I animated it. I also looked through the layers and found an old screenshot and a customized contact box, lol.
Customizing my Myspace profile was how I started to learn web design; because I was so obsessed with my profile looking original, I would always tinker with the custom CSS code so I can make it look however I wanted. And then I would make a custom background and someone would steal it. Good times, lol.
I really miss blogging and reading my friends’ thoughts. I miss Roxy and the OTP crew.
A lot of people asked me when I used to paint – why tf did I pick the name “SHERM”? Do you smoke it??
The truth is, I had a homie that wrote “SHROOM”. At the time we were just young, dumb little taggers and into drugs (mostly weed, acid and shrooms lol). I never did sherm though, I didn’t even know what it was until much later on (it’s a marijuana joint laced with PCP). The only reason I started writing “SHERM” was because it sounded cool and the letters really flow together whether I wrote it, tagged it, or painted the letters in spraypaint – they just went really well together.
So yeah…that’s it. That’s the big secret. Honestly hated that name after a while, but I don’t regret painting it.
Edit: oh btw, if you’re thinking about talking shit to me about “stealing my name or whatever” – take the name, IRDGAF. I’m just an old lady now reminiscing about it.
02/05/2026 – Sorting through photos and wanted to add these. The bird was painted by my lovely friend, Femme9. Her Instagram
01/11/2026 – Just reminiscing about who I was…I think this was the last piece I painted in 2015.
11/2020
Do you ever mourn the person that you once were?
It’s a trip how one’s ego motivates you for a long time. For over 20 years, painting graffiti was all I ever gave a shit about. That and making sure my profession was somewhat creative.
Then my mom died in 2006 and even though I still painted, the desire to paint consistently started to fade away. I’m not going into details, but other people ruined it for me too.
Your consciousness changes over time. You are the same person but different.
I didn’t realize that I would also experience a death of some sorts, but I did. I’ve died over and over.
Copied and pasted from my birth chart report:
Your Sun is in the 10th House of your birth chart meaning that you’re the sort of person who likes to make your mark on the world, in particular through your profession.
The Sun is in Sagittarius
Your Sun is in the Zodiac Sign of Sagittarius indicating that you’re a sunny and optimistic individual, with a love of adventure. In fact adventure plays a key role in your life, whether it be literally traveling around the globe, or metaphorically speaking exploring the world of ideas and philosophy. You’re particularly enthusiastic about anything that expands your world and helps you forget about daily chores.
Feb 4, 2026 – I’ve been looking for this photo, as I don’t really take photos of my own tattoos. I think this is from between 2015-2017. This California tattoo was done by skateboarding legend Eric Dressen. Eric if you happen to see this, hi!
Jan 20, 2026 – Bumping this up just because. Saying hello to myself from the future.
Aug 23, 2017 Hello friends!?
I don’t have a whole lot to say these days. Selling crystals and stones along with marketing and advertising the small business I started in April 2017 is keeping me busy as well as learning and expanding my knowledge of the mineral kingdom. I also became attuned to level I Reiki very recently; I wanted to bless the stones that I’m selling with Reiki energy. So yeah, I am very grateful for everything that I am experiencing. I don’t know where all of this is taking me, I’m just here for the ride and following whatever interests me.
This year has been so different, doing the constant work on myself has been life changing.
I am turning 40 at the end of the year, technically I already am.? I don’t know wtf that means anymore as I don’t feel like it. It used to be a big deal for everyone, right? I guess for me, it’s not…at least not anymore.
If you are reading this, I hope that you are having a transformative year, I hope you are living your best life.???
Tuesday Feb 3, 2026 – was just going through some photos when I ran into this one. It’s from 2013, I added stars on the corner because other people were tagging on it:
Painted this using a U-Haul and a folding ladder in 2010.
January 18, 2026 – I’m revisiting old posts of mine, looking at old paintings and writings. Our thoughts and feelings always need to be expressed no matter what and that’s why I keep this blog around. I was inspired by Buddhist / Tibetan spiritual paintings at the time.
May 5th, 2016
Is strange, weird, beautiful, synchronistic…
and that I’ve been on it all along.
I am able to recognize it now that I look back at what I’ve painted; and only now am I able to understand why I have been drawn to certain symbols and themes in my paintings and drawings.
But like most people, I was drawn to occult imagery first because I thought it was cool; not having any actual understanding of the symbols used.
This one is titled “Self Absorbed” from 2008, only now I could say it was more about self-discovery, self-development, knowing thyself. This is a self-portrait of me, sitting on a lotus flower like you see in Buddhist paintings. But there are also different faces or sides of me (left & right).
At the time, I wasn’t even meditating. Or perhaps I was and wasn’t even aware? I was always writing, blogging and sharing my thoughts with a handful of friends so perhaps that is how things were actually manifesting.
Your thoughts lead you to where you are now.
08-29-2025: apparently I am reminiscing hard and appreciating my own hand lettering skills. My goal was to add more tags to posts but this one came up.
Edit: it’s 2021 and they have created an L.A. Graffiti Black Book, but it’s currently sold out.
07-08-2015: I made this for the Getty Research Institute in 2012. Explore the book here.
This video was filmed 13 years ago – the year was 2011, when I was still painting graffiti. I was pretty chunky too, haha. I like how my piece came out btw. Oh and the comments are funny now that I look back at it; I actually avoided reading them for a long time because feelings or whatever or even watching the video because of my weight. Of course most guys always have something gross to say.
Time is so wild.
Painted with WINK and Angel179 for Art Primo.
