This mural is in the showcase section of our studio and everyone who walks in loves the cheeky lorikeet. Landscape and animal murals are popular with the public as the content is simple and accessible. For us in the studio, a new mural always adds some colour and reinforces our branding. If you’re looking to add some ‘WOW factor’ to your office or home a mural is a really simple choice to stand out from the crowd.
This project in Murwiilumbah took several days of pre-production, 112 hours to paint, used 35 litres of acrylic paint and 120 aerosol cans, 114 nozzles, and the artists traveled from Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast and had 87 years experience between them. In short, the lads put in a mammoth effort over the Easter long weekend to finish this mural. For a full background visit the blog, where I explain the finer details of the wall.
Name: Sauce
From: Northern NSW
Trade: Mural and Aerosol Artist
Painting Since: 1994
Theme: Increase the Peace
Name: Skons
From: Brisbane
Painting Since: 1999
Trade: Tattoo Artist
Theme: Increase the Peace
Name: Jae Theartist
From: Wherever he lays his head
Trade: Sign writing and aerosol art
Painting Since: 1989
Theme: Finding what creates a resonance with light
Website: Flickr
Name: Ksino
From: Sydney, now lives in Brisbane
Trade: Owner of Butter Beats Record Store
Painting Since: 1986
Theme: It’s more likely that we landed a monkey on the moon than a man.
Website: Butter Beats & Kasino
Late last year, we were contacted by the P & C at Coolnwynpin State School as they had some ideas about how they wanted to update their tuck-shop area. The school also had a few sketches and ideas about the space as previously, they had run a design competition with the students to involve the students in the process. The P & C also wanted the sign to match the theme of the previous mural Sauce had created at the school.
Positive Energy Activates Constant Elevation - Gravediggaz
Late last year, we were contacted in the studio by some keen young men from Iona College to create a ‘Seniors’ mural for their school as a leaving gift. The lads wanted something which represented them and their school and something that celebrated their passion for rugby. After some initial consultation with the lads and Father Mark Edwards, the Principal, Sauce smashed out a piece and beast over two days in the sweltering Brisbane humidity.
Late last year, we received a phone call from Redlands Museum with a request for an interior mural with a horse ploughing a field. “Easy done!” I said. “No worries mate.” That was before I learnt it was a 14m x 6m wall. But, with Sauce being a professional I was confident the mural would be an interesting and suitable challenge.
After some further consultation with the staff and volunteers, the theme and images were determined. The layout and design was relatively simple as the concept needed to be historically accurate since it was a part of the tractor display in the museum. The staff and volunteers at the museum were great to work with and it was refreshing to see such a professionally managed facility. With any luck, Sauce will be painting more backdrops and murals for the museum to help set the scene for their carefully curated displays.
This mural made it into the local paper.
The team at Redland Museum were so impressed with Sauce’s work on the farming display, they decided to commission him for a second mural for the Grand View Hotel display. The Grand View Hotel was the first licensed establishment in Queensland and is located in Cleveland, Redland City. The pub still stands today and as past residents of Redland City, both Sauce and myself have enjoyed a beverage or two at the old pub, especially on Christmas Eve, but that’s another story.
This mural was one of the most challenging and intricate murals Sauce has undertaken since the backdrop required a high level of detail to recreate the historic pub. The angle of the mural was also significant, as the pre-existing doors needed to be worked into the mural.
As always, the staff and volunteers were amazing to work with. Sauce tells me he was fed scones with jam and cream and had free reign over the tea room. Excitement indeed!
This mural at the Byron Regional Sport and Cultural Complex is one of the many different projects and plans lined up for January. Sauce was keen to finish this wall as it was a long time in the pipeline with loads more paperwork than the usual job.
The initial Expressions of Interest was in July of last year, and I put together three separate proposals for the gig. At one stage, we received a phone call requesting more information about the proposals, which was strange, as I thought I had all of the bases covered, but I worked out that the team hadn’t read any of the information I had sent. *Sigh* I just love bureaucracy.
Once we put application was accepted, there was a delay between the signing of the contract and the design phase. There were more hoops to jump through, but in the end we met a lovely contractor from the council who was fantastic to work with. She listened to our concerns and was the most organised council worker I have ever met. Our biggest challenge was the paperwork and the design approval process. It is literally easier for Sauce to paint the mural than to organise all of the different bureaucratic processes, but you have to take the good with the bad.
The best bits: working locally and creating some solid three dimensional graff. Sauce didn’t have to deal with traffic or scramble to find parking and all the other hassles of working in the Big Smoke. Once the initial design phase was finalised, the concept and colour scheme for the piece really stood out. Sauce was able to use some of the MTN 94 Transparents and experiment with different stencil techniques. We hope this is one of many different local projects in the Northern Rivers area. There are loads of walls in Byron and the surrounding areas which would be perfect for a good old fashioned graff piece. As a commercial artist Sauce doesn’t always choose the theme for every job. Opportunities like this are few and far between.
Ok, so it’s 2014 and we still don’t have hoverboards, but we do have a Time Machine! Over the Christmas and New Year break, Sauce whipped up a Time Machine in Newell Park, Murwillumbah. The project was many months in the making, as there were numerous official documents to fill out, and Sauce was juggling several different murals at once. The delay was a blessing in disguise as once Sauce had completed the steampunk themed mural at Ground Control, he was full of ideas for the electrical box. The box is literally across the road from the studio, so next time you’re in town you can see both!
