Five Letters was a solo retrospective for aerosol artist, Sauce. Sauce started sketching and painting the back of factory walls in 1994 and his back catalogue is filled with images which represent graffiti lettering and hand-style tags. Five Letters was not about showcasing gentrified graffiti, rather it was a celebration of Sauce’s roots and the ‘good old days’ when painting was about riding the lines and using whatever paints you could get your hands on.
We were recently contacted by Loganlea State High to add some colour to their dance studio. It was a small and simple mural to create as like the other recent studio mural Sauce created, it was painted off-site on MDF ply and then attached to the wall. This process allowed Sauce to create the mural while juggling other work commitments, and since this mural was for the interior of the dance studio, there were no interruptions with lessons. It also made perfect sense to create an aerosol art backdrop for the dance studio since graffiti and breakdancing are all a part of the hip hop culture.
If your studio needs a backdrop, give us a call. It’s easier than you think.
Its its not every day that we get a request to paint someone’s front door, so when we did, we were taken by surprise. It makes complete sense when you think about it. Who wouldn’t want an oversized Australian native bird greeting them each day?
This aerosol art piece didn’t take long for Sauce to paint, but it was a challenge to make sure the design reflected the client’s needs and fitted the available painting area. When painting animals, especially well known and loved animals it’s a challenge to ensure the details such as colour and size are correct.
If your thinking ‘this is exactly what I need on my front door. Why didn’t I think of that?’ then contact us to arrange a quote. If you’re organised, we might even be able to fit it in before Christmas.
Sauce on the cans.
XIX LXIX by Sauce illuminates the possibilities of the space-time continuum, which as humans, we experience without consciousness. Earth is paradoxical by being both monumental and insignificant. Humanity is constantly seeking physical answers to metaphysical questions which creates barriers and restraints on our own freedom.
Sauce was thrilled to (finally) finish this mural in Brisbane this week. He created the mural over two days in the hot Brisbane sun, at a school in Mt. Gravatt. The principal graciously allowed Sauce to create this design at the school, as it was a challenge to find somewhere which suited the layout of this mural. If you’re thinking this image is familiar, then you’re right. This picture features as one of our postcard designs
(Available for $3.00 in store. What a bargain!) and it also has
which can be traced back to Tasmania.
Last week, Sauce visited Calvary Christian College for the fifth year in a row for the school’s ArtsFest. Sauce has been a regular feature as the Artist in Residence, where he creates murals for the school, facilitates workshops with the high school students and runs lunchtime demonstrations for the wider school community.
Last Saturday Destination Tweed held their annual event Tweed Fusion, which promotes arts and culture in the Tweed. As a part of the celebrations, we joined the cool crew at Caba Creative at Norries Headland for some aerosol art demonstrations where Sauce painted a mural on the amenities block. Cabarita is an amazing beach, and it was the perfect day for markets, live music and interactive art. We met some great people, and hope to work with the community again in the future.
The Emerald Aquatic Centre was the first gig Sauce had waiting for him in Emerald, and he was there for six days completing the cartoon murals for the children’s area. Sauce met the manager of the centre on his previous trip to Central Queensland, as the manager was looking for something to smarten the place up before the busy summer season.
The manager was so impressed with the children’s area, he commissioned Sauce to paint an entrance mural too.
The might fine folk at MTN Australia featured Sauce on their blog! As an independent artist, it’s always exciting to receive recognition for your efforts.
Sauce has always used the best quality paint he can source. Since his artwork is his best form of advertising, he can’t afford to be associated with poor quality, which is why he made the choice to exclusively use MTN 94.
In the Sauce Studio, we also think it’s a perfect match since Sauce started paining in 1994, which was the same year MTN was created. It can’t be a coincidence!
This week for #ArtThursday, I’m talking about public art. Over the past decade, Sauce has contributed a vast amount of public art to the wider community with numerous murals, some of which were commissioned and funded and others were self directed and self-funded. Either way, the murals all added colour and changed the cultural ambience of the area, which is the main aim of public art. Good public art should add and create a better ambience, it should be aesthetically pleasing to a wide audience, it should invite a positive dialogue and as all good art does it should Comfort the disturbed and disturb the comforted.
Dick, Head of Department. Sauce, 2014.
This is easer said than done, as there are loads of different pieces of public art in our communities which do not reach a wide audience nor improve the visual and cultural ambience of the area. When I mention public art, how many images of bronze statues of forgotten Kings come to mind, or in our trade, how many faded murals have you seen which were a community project from many moons ago? It’s easy to be scathing of such pieces, however as an industry professionals, Sauce and myself have some insights about the process, and how the bureaucrats manage to make such a mess of it all.
First, there is the procurement process. It is incredibly common to find an Expressions of Interest (EOI) where the details are incorrect, the time schedule is laughable or the project outcomes are not inline with the project details. Usually, this is due to the staff responsible for the project delivery. It is incredibly rare to find a bureaucrat with the experience in arts related project delivery, and even rarer to have people involved in the process who are arts practitioners. For all the fancy words and pretty pictures, most EOIs for public art are cut and pasted from another department and in the case of murals, it’s often about trying to solve an existing problem. Murals are rarely curated or planned into the design of the building or architecture.
Then there is the million dollar question: How much for the puppy sculpture in the park? Again, the bureaucrats put their two cents in here, and usually the artwork needs to be to a set budget, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However this figure is more than likely to be plucked out of thin air, than resemble an amount which will cover the professional delivery of a successful arts project. Again, in our experience, the fees associated with project delivery are unlikely to resemble a price which encompasses the price of materials and the time necessary for the project, it’s more about looking good in glossy brochures and to branch managers.
So how does the public fare in all of this, and what do they do when they get a dead tree or Poo Sticks in their local park? For the better part, their taxes and rates are wasted on Red Tape. Which isn’t good for anyone, as it means both the artists and the public are missing out on fulfilling cultural experiences. While there are plenty of great artists with even better ideas, there are few opportunities for professional artists to deliver artist driven projects. And don’t even get me started on grants. I’d rather pull my teeth out with pliers than waste my time applying for endless grants.
So next time you’re reading the paper and notice “some artist” gets “$120,000 for a light installation” or whatever the flavour of the month is, you can guarantee most of the cash went to the bureaucrats, and the artist is most likely still penniless.
Handcrafted Artwork Since 94 - The Sauce Studio
We respect the Bundjalung People as traditional custodians acknowledging continued connection to country and culture.
