Coalstoun Lakes State School

Once Mooshka received a revamp, it was time to get back in the Mural Truck and head to Coalstoun Lakes State School.  

Sauce worked with the principal Mr. Reed a few years ago in Muttaburra, so it was great to reconnect with old friends and it was even better to see an early career principal leading the way and reinvigorating the school community.

After creating several murals throughout the school during the week, Sauce also squeezed in a 3D piece before his next stop, the Emerald Aquatic Centre

Bedroom Murals

Sauce held a cracking pace while out west, and in between facilitating workshops and completing two murals at the Emerald Aquatic Centre, he whipped up two interior murals for a local Emerald family. Since this was an interior commission, it was a little tricky to use strictly aerosols, so these murals are 99% brush work. 

This brushwork allowed Sauce to get clean crisp lines for the brick work in the Rabbit mural and since paint was in limited supply by that stage of the tour, it ensured Sauce was able to deliver the final product to the client without disappointment. 


 

If you’re thinking of adding some colour to your home, then get in contact with us. 

Central Highlands Multicultural Festival

 

 

The Central Highlands Multicultural Festival which is in it’s tenth year gets bigger and better with each festival and this year was no exception. This time, Sauce facilitated a series of workshops incorporating aerosol art and hip hop culture leading up to the festival with the young people of Emerald and Blackwater. On the evening of the event there were more workshops and Sauce created several canvas pieces which the festival will auction off at a later date to raise funds for future festivities. 


Sauce also caught up with Ethic Ill, an Emcee and DJ from Emerald who performed at the event. The festival was definitely a highlight of the tour, as Sauce was able to meet so many varied members of the public and by painting at these types of events, it allows Sauce to break down any stereotypes associated with aerosols. It was also encouraging to see another generation of young people learn and grow from the experiences of the workshops. Not to mention the management of the festival. It takes a mammoth effort to create this type of festival and it would not be possible for the event to flourish without all of the hard work from the management team or the volunteers, so a massive thanks goes out to all of them.

 

We hope that next year is bigger and better again! To stay up to date with all of the festivities, you can follow the Central Highlands Multicultural Festival on Facebook.

Exit 75

When I said Sauce was busy, I wan’t exaggerating! He managed to smash out this Stomper on the Gold Coast over two days. It was in the pipeline for a while, as Sauce know it would be a mission to finalize. During this time, we received word that another Writer, Polka passed away, so it was fitting this wall would be a tribute to the young man who died too soon. 

There were heaps of different challenges to negotiate, from lining up paints to having enough space on site. The wall which is visible from the motorway, doesn’t have many neighboring buildings, so the ‘nature strip’ was more of an overgrown tangle of weeds with a large and steep drop. The lack of buildings also meant Sauce was unable to source power for his airless spraygun so the background was done with rollers. He was definitely stinky when he came home, so I can assure you plenty of sweat went into this wall.


This wasn’t the first time Sauce had painted here. Previously, an old friend Roms had organised permissions for the wall, but over time Roms had other things to manage and he graciously handed it over to Sauce to maintain.

The Dragon and the Buddha

This smiling Buddah was for a heavy metal dude in suburban Brisbane. I received a call while Sauce was on his previous tour of Central QLD, for an enquiry about a mural with the aurora borealis, a Chinese Buddah and a dragon. It sounded great, but we needed to be patient, as Sauce only had a few weeks in-between his next trip away. 

The family who commissioned this mural were great to work with. Not only were they patient, they entertained Sauce with great rotation of heavy metal while being a pleasure to work with. The design elements were easy, since they had a clear idea about what they wanted, but they also let Sauce take some artistic licence where necessary. 
Apparently, the family were so happy with the outcome, they were arguing amongst themselves as to whose idea it was to get Sauce to the mural! We think it looks pretty rad as Buddah is always an effective image to work with. 

Parks and Recreation

Over the weekend, Sauce and I caught an old Parks and Recreation episode, The Camel where the Parks Department design a new mural for the town. Not only did we laugh ourselves silly because Parks and Recreation is one of the best Sit-Coms around (Ron Swanson is pretty damn funny), but the episode remind us of some experiences we’ve both had when dealing with past clients and councils. In light of the mistakes made by Leslie Knope and the rest of her team in the Parks Department, I thought I would add a post with some hints and tips about designing and commissioning a mural.

 

  •  Have a clear idea about why you’re commissioning a mural, and allow this to set the tone and theme. If you want a mural to encompass a town, think of the narrative or story that town has to offer. Also, keep in mind of the whole story of the town. In the Parks and Recreation episode, a new mural was commissioned, since the original mural was defaced due to it’s racist undertones. 

 

  • Who is the target audience? Is this mural a part of a graffiti management strategy, or is it about adding colour? Is the mural a part of your advertising strategy, or all of the above? A mural can be an effective way to discourage unwanted vandalism, but this is only going to work if it is culturally appropriate. The target audience should influence and shape the theme. A lovely and peaceful scene of an elderly person feeding the pigeons in the park sounds great on paper, but if you want to deter vandalism, you’re going to need to add something a bit more relevant.

  •  Where is the mural? If the mural is in the CBD of town, or an area of high traffic, then it is worth spending more time and effort to make it stand out and memorable. If the mural is in a town, will people be taking photos and selfies in front of it? Is this mural a large component of your advertising strategy? The saying of ‘you get what you pay for’ rings true here. If you want a showpiece or stand out feature, it pays to hire a professional mural artist who can guide you through the design process. By asking people with no public art experience and expecting a committee to make an assertive and creative design you’re just setting yourself up for failure. And let’s not forget one of the most realistic lines from the show:

Landscape Architect: “It’s a camel.”

Leslie Knope: “A camel?”

Landscape Architect: “A camel is what you get when you ask a committee to design a horse.”

And lastly, be mindful of simplicity. There is nothing worse than a convoluted message which tries to be all things at once. 

 

To organise a design consultation, contact us today.

 

 

 

Barcaldine

After a fortnight in Emerald, it was time to pack up the Mural Truck and get back on the road. This time, Sauce was headed to Barcaldine where he had arranged to paint at St. Joseph’s Primary School and in the CBD.

 

While Sauce was painting in the town centre, some feathered friends had a sticky beak at all the action. You can check out the excitement on Youtube. 

 

 

As always, Sauce made the most of his time out West and completed some canvas work and a backdrop for one of the locals in town. 

 

Emerald May - June 2014

 

 

Things may have seemed quiet in the studio for the past month, but Sauce has been anything but quiet. Last month, he toured Central Queensland with thanks to Anglicare CQ and spent the past month flat out like a lizard drinking. Anglicare celebrated thirty years of service this year, and we realised that Sauce has been working with the organisation for the past decade. 

 

For this trip, the Anglicare CQ team from Emerald kept him busy with countless workshops for the young people of Emerald and he painted a few murals too. The locals of Emerald also keen to have their walls painted and Sauce managed to smash a few commissions too. 

 

It wasn’t all work and no play. Hayley (the most effective and efficient Youth Worker this side of the Black Stump), was generous enough to take Sauce to Fairburn Dam for the day where he indulged in some wake boarding! The Emerald and CQ crew are always a pleasure to work with, and Sauce is already planning to head back out again. Next stop: Barcaldine. 


As you can see, Sauce has loads of pictures from his trip away. Too many for one blog post! To see the action unfold, follow us on Instagram!