52 On Vulture

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Recently I have been creating a mural on Vulture Street, West End. The folks at Cowlishaw & Son have entrusted me to funk up the fashion warehouse walls of the third generation business. Their hospitality, an open approach to design, along with so many fabulous comments from pedestrians have all contributed to a very enjoyable experience. 


 


Ravenous Machine

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I am very excited to announce I was selected as one of nine finalist in the 2012, Sheffield International Mural Fest. This will be my third consecutive Mural Fest and I am hoping to defend my title after last years success. The picture below is the miniature I painted as an entry. For the competition, I will apply this design to the wall provided in Mural Park, Sheffield. The organiser stated this year, there were a record number of entries including many from overseas. I am looking forward to catching up with some old friends and meeting some new faces while working amongst such a high calibre of mural artists. 

This year the poem is titled Food Bowl by Lorraine McNeair: “The golden bloom of fertility lies on the land/And feeds us with flavour.”

The whirling, whizzing, wheezing wheels of modernity steam into the bucolic landscape, in search of food to feed the bloated masses. This pictorial narrative explores the collision of the rural landscape and the urban sprawl by depicting their current state of existence.

Acrylic on board 96cm X 42cm.

 

Its All a Blur

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I recently contributed to a group mural “25 years of Mural Art in Kentish – A Success Story” . Involving more than Twenty artists, the indoor 3D mural is on display in Sheffield, Tasmania and has been created to commemorate Twenty-five years of murals in the town. Each artist was asked to create a miniature based on what the murals represent to them. My piece is based on my experience winning last years Mural Fest. Titled “It’s All a Blur” I aimed to depict a scene of Mural Park in Sheffield skewing the focus to indicate an almost kaliodscopic view. Drawing on memories of the event it really was a blur of great people, delicious food, amazing artwork, comradery and a totally unexpected success. I hope to update with the whole mural soon.

 

 

Sketches

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It’s been too busy to keep track of my sketchbook lately as I have been preoccupied with back to back murals. The black book is where it all begins, putting pencil to paper and lately I have been chewing through pencils and paper.  Sometimes murals are meticulously planned and other times a rough sketch is an adequate starting point for ideas to elvolve from. I have just uploaded a stack of new sketches comprising some of the design concepts from recent murals. Here’s a taste…

 

 

Art Has No Boundaries

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Art certianally does have boundaries not to mention legal paramaters. After sixteen years of basing my business in the Redlands I decided to move to greener pastures twelve months ago. As a young person and a community member I took part in numerous youth and art committees, and I was a gallery volunteer at the Redland Art Gallery in Cleveland. Despite my active involvment in community based projects and the knowlegde I gained over the years, I was consistantly ignored or under valued by local council. I was even nominated by Redland City Council for a “Youth Up Front” award in 2002. Many promises have been broken by council and we are still yet to witness preventative measures towards youth crime and graffiti issues which are effective and culturally appropriate. On numerous occasions I have offered free or low cost artwork only to be denied the opportunity and graffiti removal continues. Several opportunities to train appropriate local artists have also been denied. The money spent on graffiti removal continues to increase as does the incidences of graffiti. I have had meetings with the Mayor and other important stakeholders requestiong the council takes a more broad approach to art and to look beyond Yurara or Coochie Art Group, the two most publicised and council supported art organisations. There are many different policy documents specifying how to involve the use of murals and the type of work I am experienced in. Art has many boundries in Redland City. Mainly too many white picket fences and too much red tape.  Read more: