Painted in Cardiff… It seems that just as the clocks go back, we lose the light and the weather gets colder, we get the irrational urge to be more inspired, to get productive and paint more walls!
This goes out to my Graffiti families from ILC and Sinstars. Onwards and Upwards….
Our local boozer… The Lansdowne Pub. We have a lot of history with this place… we used to rent the old Coach House that was part of the site as our studio and storage years ago.. a 2 storey building with an outside yard space for our caravans at the time. Through our relationship with the then-Landlord… we put on the legendary Dub in the Pub Reggae nights in the Pub… followed by the first 2 Fair Play Festival events, incorporating all the areas of this big old pub, including our yard space and the car park. Alas, time went on, we moved to the Boiler House, the pub was sold, and a dark cloud loomed over the Lansdowne.
BUT… all was not lost! After the inclusion of some yuppie flats into the building, the bar was re-opened (a lot smaller), and was some friends of ours happened to take over the running of the Pub! It is now once again a cracking place to go drink, eat, watch Wales whip England 30-3 in the Rugby… and so on. With all this in place… I was once again asked to paint a mural in the Beer Garden, a full 5 or 6 years since the last time I painted the same space (although it has changed a lot!). The new residents also fancied a bit of a tree/green/forest type of vibe rather than the “smoking skulls” and “shady character” pieces that once adorned the walls haha! Times change.. as do we all! More pics in the walls page… click here
The Empty walls project was hosted by Modern Alchemists, and featured 12 Artists from around the UK and abroad all painting large scale murals in Roath, Cardiff, as part of the Made in Roath festival. Thanks to the MA crew for inviting me to take part…
The Salvation Army ”Lifehouse” project in Cardiff felt they wanted to inject a bit of colour into their new “Hub” area for the residents. We held consultation workshops prior to the painting of the mural with the young people, giving them ownership and control over the content and ideas that we used. We then got stuck into the painting and produced this piece of work in the centre. Tanks to the young people involved and also the management…
We do a great deal of work in the community and facilitate many projects of a similar nature. If you would like to discuss graffiti workshops or community regeneration projects of any nature please get in touch! You can see a number of examples of such projects in our Graffiti Workshops page. Click here
This was a great little project to work on. The owner of this sweet little Hi-Jet van handed down to him by his dad wanted to inject some life back into the old thing. He’s been working on it as a labour of love to keep it on the road and brought it to me for a lick of paint! I love working on vehicles… this was a beauty!
WIWO is a new Noodle Bar in Cardiff based in Cathays, in the heart of the student area in Cardiff. They contacted me to paint a cool little rooftop spot on the side of the building with a graffiti take on the Tokyo skyline in their branded colours. This was a fun job to do… more coming soon on the other side of the building!
As the winter draws in… we are getting more and more tattoo work coming in which is great as we get to stay inside in the warm and dry! Some of our customers have been very patient over the summer waiting for us to finish the season of travelling and large outdoor Graffiti work that takes place.. so we are working through the waiting list. Here’s a mandala done recently on Mike from Swansea… more to be added to his arm soon!
Check the Tattoos page for more Dotwork Tattoos by us…
Cardiff had a few visitors over the “Breakin the Bay” weekend… namely Soker and Cheo from Bristol, and Tizer from London… a perfect excuse to have a little social paint on the side the day after the event, partly organised by Rmer CVK. In attendance on the Sunday were Karm, Rmer, Tizer, Soker, Kato, Some and myself… in a battle more of headaches and hangovers rather than paint. A very slow-going day indeed…
To view the whole wall click here…
The pics are up from Greenman Festival… details from the 130ft+ wall have been added to the Walls section… click here.
Another season of festivals gone by… topped off by the mission that is Greenman Festival! This is the 8th year we’ve painted this mural around the house in the middle of the site, and the 8th coat of paint these Ply boards have had. Its always a mad mission to complete and build every year in the time and space we have, this year was no exception, but its definitely a labour of love.
Mural this year was painted by Best, Colour Doomed, Helen Bur and Alwyn Jones. More pics to follow…
