Redland Museum

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. 

Update on 2014-03-04 00:54 by sauce

This mural made it into the local paper. 

Update on 2014-04-22 01:46 by sauce

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!

Sunday Mail

19th January, 2014.

Back to the Future

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!

 

Ground Control Coffee

The owner at Ground Control Coffee recently put the call out to find an artist to blend in an existing feature for their new warehouse and showroom. Since the warehouse was at Tweed Heads, Sauce jumped at the chance to work locally. The steampunk theme for the mural allowed Sauce to experiment with his latest batch of MTN 94s, Aliens and Transparents. The owner, Glen, was also getting into the spirit of things and was busy making brass chandeliers in the background, to match in with the theme. Sauce managed to finish the mural in one day, which was a massive achievement considering his brush with a Gympie Gympie plant. Ground Control opens early next year, so keep your eyes pealed if you’re serious about quality coffee.  

Uki Supermarket

In between fighting bureaucracy and nailing some designs in the studio, I packed up my trestles and ladders and headed to Uki Supermarket, a local village fifteen minutes out of town. Dave and Bec, the Supermarket owners, required something which incorporated their branding, suited the locality and combined their own theme and design. I was pleased with the end result as I think it makes an excellent showcase of combining hand-crafted artwork with a unique branding perspective.  

How was your Monday?

How was your Monday? At The Sauce Studio, it was a regular, no nonsense Monday. The kind where a little bit of work gets done, some procrastination happens and then it’s lunchtime and the day is nearly done. Monday, was just the regular run of the mill Monday until Sauce made a follow up call to the Manger at Visible Ink. 

For the past six months, at The Sauce Studio we’ve been following the Walls and Colours project. You might have seen the post where we expressed frustration about the project delivery, and, you’re probably wondering why we’re bothering to continue to whinge and whine about a project. Our complaints, might even sound like sour grapes, but…

At The Sauce Studio, we stand up for what we believe in, and we believe aerosol art is a legitimate art form which deserves more recognition than it currently receives. Aerosol and graffiti art is a part of the bigger sub-culture of Hip Hop and has been exploited by marking gurus for too long. We value transparent processes and practices when delivering projects to the public. Paperwork, the necessary evil, provides accountability and ensures agencies and organizations have a tangible justification for service provision.

Which takes me back to the original complaint. This Walls and Colours project, well it’s a pile of shit. The $150,000 project which is funded from the Proceeds of Crime has zero accountability. At no point has The Sauce Studio received or found an Expressions of interest. Even when we specifically requested one. But really, the bigger problem and the most disappointing fact is that young people, aerosol artists and the greater community is missing out when it comes to great public art and activities for aerosol artist enthusiasts. The proof is in the pudding. You can see the artwork and judge it yourself for quality and talent. 

As a business, The Sauce Studio doesn’t require to maintain or hold a monopoly on aerosol art projects or murals, but here’s the thing; out of ten walls, and $150,000 worth of funding, we find it difficult to swallow that The Sauce Studio and Sauce would be so systematically excluded from this project. Here in the studio, we can’t join the dots to find out why this is the case. Sauce has worked with countless other councils and community agencies, all over the East Coast of Australia and we find it hard to believe that his years of experience and artistic talent could not be utilised in come fashion for this ten wall project.

So, our Monday, was a bit overrated. And that phone call with the Manger from Visible Ink, well, it was an hour of talking in circles. In fact, it would have made more sense to play chess with a pigeon.

Why are we ‘airing our dirty linen’ on the blog post? Because traditional media outlets don’t care. We want something positive to come out this mayhem. It it truly disappointing to think this type of mismanagement, incompetence and nepotism is allowed to continue while the community misses out on something which could be the benchmark for public art and community engagement. These types of tokenistic projects do little more than alienate the target audience and they certainly don’t effect cultural change. 

Studio Buddha

I began this mural in my studio in Murwillumbah nearly six months ago. I don’t normally work so slow, however I’ve travelled far and wide while Buddha patiently waited for me to finish him. The omnipotent Buddha is an image which has been replicated and celebrated all over the world, and I hope this version brings inspiration and tranquility. 

The Benefits of a Mural (Part two)

Welcome back to part two of ‘The Benefits of a Mural’. In the previous post we explained how a mural can be a cost effective method of graffiti prevention and how it differs from digital printing. In this post, we will explain the human elements of a mural.

A mural can be a cost effective method of creating a sense of pride and ownership for schools, community organisations and sporting clubs. The design elements of the creative process can provide your organisation with effective tools to make your space your own. The use of a mural creates a brand alignment with the handcrafted, bespoke and artisan elements of sign-writing. This type of visual communication speaks above the convoluted clip-art images we are all familiar with. By commissioning a professional mural artist to create a mural for your organisation, you are immediately communicating differently with your client base. 

 

Murals are also a great way to enliven a usually dull or dead space that would be usually ignored or avoided. Through the use of colour, you can make a feature of a normally wasted space. The human element of the design process provides a platform of realness to your organisation. The application process alone allows a level of flexibility which is unmatched with other sign-writing or visual advertising methods.

Feel free to contact us at Aerograffix to discuss your creative needs. We’d love to have a chat about your mural project.   

The Benefits of a Mural (Part one)

There are numerous different options available for advertising and aesthetic improvement for walls and architecture, and it can be difficult to decide on one style or feature. Sauce has over a decade of experience with creating professional murals, all over the east coast of Australia, so let him make the decision easier for you.

 

With the availability of digital prints, advertising and sign writing, it can be easy to get lost in the crowd. By choosing a mural to decorate the exterior of your building, it communicates your ideas with your client basein a more subtle and sophisticated manner. It’s the difference between screaming through a mega-phone at your audience and having a quiet coffee with a friend. A mural can blend art with advertising and leave a longer more lasting impression with your audience.

A mural is also an excellent method of graffiti prevention. By using aerosols and a culturally sensitive design, a mural can be a highly cost effective graffiti prevention measure. There is no fail safe method, however, aerosol art is a part of the solution, and when incorporated with the building design or structure, a mural can also be a striking feature.

Stay tuned for parts two and three and find out how a mural is the best choice for your business.