August 03, 2015

Hutcho's Annual Jam

August 03, 2015/ sauce

Sauce, Skon, Kosie, Wolf and Ksino 2015.

January 16, 2015

We're Moving

January 16, 2015/ sauce

After much consideration and thought, Sauce and myself have decided to close the doors of the studio and begin a new chapter. Sauce will still be creating his amazing murals and painting up a storm, all over the countryside, however we cannot justify keeping the studio open. Since Sauce spends most of his time outside Murwillumbah and my study workload is ever increasing, we needed to make the practical and realistic decision to run the business from the mountains in the Tweed Valley rather than have a space open to the public.

Last year, Sauce travelled to Central Queensland three times, he visited the Sunny Coast, Coulstan Lakes and made countless trips to Brisbane. Not to mention the local work he managed to squeeze into his schedule. In other words, Sauce painted more murals than you had hot meals last year and it looks like this year will be just as busy, so the added pressure of keeping the studio open is something which is unfeasible.

Our time in Murwillumbah has been a roller coaster of adventure. We’ve met some lovely locals, and we’re amazed by the support we’ve received from unlikely backers. After holding four exhibitions and various other curated tidbits, we have by far, exceeded our own expectations for the studio and as creative practitioners, we are stronger for it. However, our time in Murwillumbah hasn’t always been the best of times. Watching the Tweed Regional Art Gallery shuttle all the official dignitaries and guests past our doors on big air-conditioned busses to the opening of the Margaret Olley Art Centre which we weren’t allowed to go to, was definitely a low point. As was spending days and weeks tied up in bureaucracy with the local council, only to not get a project off the ground. But that is all in the past, and we’re ready to make 2015 our own with new projects, new murals and more surprises. Fortune favours the brave!

So thanks once again for your unwavering support and well wishes. We wouldn’t be here without you. Whether you’ve commissioned a mural, bought a shirt, picked up a post card or just said hello, we’re grateful for the positive energy. If you’ve always been meaning to pop by the studio for a shirt or canvas, you’ve got until the 22nd of January. So get in quick! And make sure you call first, as we’re in-between offices.

December 11, 2014

Five Letters

December 11, 2014/ sauce

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.

November 24, 2014

Five Letters

November 24, 2014/ sauce

October 14, 2014

ESCAPE Fine Art Gallery

October 14, 2014/ sauce

You are cordially invited to the opening night of the ESCAPE Fine Art Gallery.

October 06, 2014

Snail Racer V2

October 06, 2014/ sauce

The Snail Racing Van received a re-vamp when a Sydney mate Jugs, said he needed some time out to get away from the city and breathe some fresh air. Sauce had plenty of paperwork and designs to keep him busy, but he still managed to get out for a paint or two while Jugs was in town.

May 20, 2014

Feathered Friend

May 20, 2014/ sauce

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.

May 15, 2014

Keep It Simple, Stupid

May 15, 2014/ sauce

Welcome back to #ArtThursday! I’m glad you could make it. This week we’re getting into the nuts and bolts of the studio and talking about materials. You’ve all heard the saying a bad workman blames his materials, which is true to some extent, but mostly you get what you paid for.

When it comes to walls, murals and aerosol art, Sauce prefers to use good quality paint which will last the test of time. Which is why he prefers MTN. MTN have a great colour range and, with the Alien cans he can create some great translucent effects. Sauce has also used Montana Gold and Black and Australian made Signets. With paint, it is a matter of quality, especially when you are working with clients and painting on exterior surfaces. In the past, Sauce has experienced some supply issues as aerosols are classed as dangerous materials. This means they need to be shipped and freighted via rail or road, and all of that can lead to supply shortages at retail outlets, even if you order well in advance.

Sauce in the studio with his latest batch of supplies.

As for sketching, drawing and Blackbooks, Sauce prefers to keep it simple and low key. His Blackbooks are A4 or A5 and his latest batch came from the local office supply store. A4 is for Blackbook sketches and smaller commissions while the A5 is for large scale walls or logo designs. In the sketch books, he uses a myriad of pens and pencils and has no real brand preference. Again, this is where as an artist, he likes to keep it low key. Most designs are done in pencil with very limited use of colour. The lack of colour is usually done to save time for the client and it can be challenging to colour match pens with aerosol paints.

Sauce’s drawing desk. Here, it’s full of reference pictures, pens, rulers and other stationary.

No big secrets or surprises here. Just good old fashioned paint.

NB This is not a sponsored post.

April 27, 2014

Increase the Peace

April 27, 2014/ sauce

After opening The Sauce Studio in March 2013, Sauce and I were adamant something had to be done “about that wall”. By then the wildlife mural had some new additions including genitalia to the fauna and some political statements about drug use, which just reinforced Sauce’s ideas about reinvigorating the wall with a fresh coat of paint. After a quick chat with the store owner and a few discussions with the building owner, we secured permission for the wall, but no funding, so we had to wait a little longer. I tried to source some grant funds, but the timing wasn’t right and since it was an aerosol project it added another level of challenges with various funding concepts. At one stage both Sauce and myself tried to approach both the local Tweed Council and the local Tweed Regional Art Gallery, however both organisations made it abundantly clear they had neither the infrastructure or the interest to make such a project happen. When we had a meeting with the management of the Community and Cultural Services (after numerous weeks and months of waiting) we were informed there was no budget for any public art and despite recently passing a new policy and people employed to approve such projects, there was still no way council would be involved with any artist driven projects.

Increase the Peace

April 27, 2014/ sauce

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.