Phil Seth, who grew up in Zelienople, works on a mural outside a hair salon near Pittsburgh.

Phil Seth's full-time job is as a designer at a screen-printing company on Neville Island.

“I create and develop designs that end up on signs, clothes, glassware. A lot of it is laser engraving,” he said of his job at Cheeseburger Design. “I've been there for three years and I enjoy it.”

But the Zelienople native's artistic talent has led to another source of revenue — and more opportunities for his passion to create to run wild.

Seth paints commissioned murals for businesses and community projects in and around Pittsburgh. He's completed 24 of them to date.

He dabbled in murals while still in college, but it picked up beginning in 2008 when he was living on Pittsburgh's South Side. He did several jobs for restaurants and bars in that area.Seth now has his work displayed all over Pittsburgh, including Garfield, Shadyside, Lawrenceville and the Strip District, among other places.A 30-by-40-foot mural paying tribute to a former incline company now graces the outside of a building in Troy Hill.“That was a public-funded project, so there were a number of other artists who were in the running to do it,” said Seth. “It was a vintage piece.“Doing things like that, I get to research an area and discover things. I've also done a lot of surreal stuff, along with the corporate branding. If I'm just messing around on my own, I don't sketch anything out first. But for jobs, I'll do a pre-emptive sketch, maybe add some color to it before I start to paint.”Seth recently finished two exterior projects for Burgh'ers Brewing, a restaurant in Zelienople. The second of which features a cow drinking a beer, a 16- by-9-foot project that Seth completed in 40 hours over three days.

“The owner gave me an idea of what he wanted and I was able to put my own spin on it,” Seth said. “The wall is stucco, which is a pain to work with because it's like thick sandpaper.“I was excited to do something in Zelienople. That's my hometown and the community has grown so much since I left ... a lot of new establishments. I will be doing a third project for them (Burgh'ers Brewing) at some point.”Seth, a 2001 Seneca Valley High School graduate now living in Avalon, remembers taking an interest in art at an early age.“I used to have crazy, very lucid dreams as a kid. It sparked my ability to visualize things and inspired me,” he said. “I think outside the box, never approach something the same way twice.“I've been into art my entire life, but it was Mr. (Jim) Nagle, my art teacher in high school, who really pushed me. He said, 'This is your passion. You should focus on it.' He was a positive influence.”Seth first attended Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and was there from 2001-04, then studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for two years.“I studied fine art in Baltimore and design in Pittsburgh,” he said. “I enjoyed both, but fine art a little more because there was less screen time.”His murals have been done both inside and outside, using latex, oil or aerosol paint.“I enjoy working with aerosol most,” said Seth. “I used to paint graffiti when I was younger. I loved looking for train cars and underpasses and exploring my creativity. I got in trouble a few times, but now I get paid and get accolades for it. It's like leaving a piece of me at a particular place.“I used aerosol on one of my favorite murals. It was for a hair salon in Bellevue and includes a girl's face with flowers throughout her hair. It's a very colorful piece.”Seth's work has become a reliable means to advertise his talent. Photos of his murals can be found on Instagram at #philsethcreative.“I'd say 90 percent of the jobs I'm commissioned to do come from people seeing my work, asking about it.“When you get that positive response from people, it's like the sun's shining on you. It warms you up and it feels good.”Seth has passed his love of art on to his 7-year-old daughter, Persephone.“My art education is refined, but I do enjoy cutting loose without a goal in mind,” he said. “It's fun when we do abstract expression, just throw buckets of paint all around.“My daughter's friends know they can come to our house, take some paint and just make a total mess of the attic.”Seth has thought about one day making a full-time job from the commissioned projects he takes on.“That's the artist's dream,” he said. “But, you know, you become a parent and there are different responsibilities. You have to look at the bigger picture.”

Zelienople native Phil Seth stands in front of a mural he painted in Pittsburgh's Troy Hill neighborhood.

Phil Seth, a 2001 Seneca Valley High School graduate, finishes the tail end of his mural at Burgh'ers Brewing in Zelienople on July 4. Seth said he was encouraged by his high school art teacher, Jim Nagle.