n Camden town last week me and Alpha collaborated on this last minute mural in Bar Vinyl. The wall was long, the construction site dusty and painting on the ceiling was a neck breaker... But the colour scheme was sexy and watching super quick spray-can sketches appear next to my painty shapes was a wonder... another type of leberkunstler altogether..
Nummer eins on my top 5 list of art holidays, has to be Linz, Austria.
I was commissioned to create a "bookcase" on the bedroom wall of a dear friend Sibylle whom i have known since my exchange student days in Bilbao. We were already mixing up the languages and sharing ideas in the halls of the University of the Basque Country back in 2006, and so i'm more than happy to have spent these days with her, learning new Deutsch words and revisiting old memories during the cutting, sticking, and painting of her golden new library......
I began by collaging phrases from old Spanish revistas, British gossip mags and general Germanic publications onto photos of books whilst humming along to FM Vier . Bi-lingual radio seemed very fitting at the time . Then after some button pressing fun on a photocopier and a bit of cutting out, i organised and pasted up the books in their shelf formation. The shiny and happy Faye Suzannah style pattern in the background was inspired by a brief trip to see the work of Klimt (and Hundertwasser) in Vienna.The latter is such an old hippy i wish he was my uncle.
Cafe con leche and stollen to celebrate. good friends and fun art times.. Wie sind internazionale kinder.
The rest of the list, incase you care is
2- Salvador brazil
3-Armona portugal
4- Zarate Argentina
5-South London Brixton + Brockley
Did i mention that EVERYTHING on Ilha Armona is small? The dogs, the roads, the boats, the houses the rooms.. Henry's room.. yeah pretty tiny. But Henry's smile after i painted him this picture was massive! The last few days of 2009 were spent in perfect company despite the rain outside.
Armona fam winter 2009 L-R. Boli, Nuno, Vera, Spot, Pringle, Kim, Henry, Peko, Me, Lito. yes it was boas festas
At the Urban Adventure Base in Mile End park London, i was commissioned, alongside artist Nik Jones, to work with a young girls group to decorate the walls next to the changing rooms. Time management and general youth attendance were the biggest hurdels. But in the end we came up with this starburst including star designs by the girls.
No matter how big of an effort i make to avoid christmas, something eventually eats away at my sentiments and i get the gold and/or silver paint out.
This week ,3 days were spent painting 3 trees in a gorgeous 4 story house in London SW8,. My trees, although something pretty special, were nothing on the first Proper xmas tree i saw this year, 5ft high and towering over the wide-eyed toddler of the house.
"Black cherry yoghurt" coloured paint+metalic details to this forest mural were a brave new move but thanks to the moral and practical support of my excellent helper Helen, i took the plunge and am super-proud to have contributed to the most stylish, and seasonal home i've seen for years.
EVERYBODY agreed that this geometric pattern was easier to live with than crazy fruit salad mess. I developed it from a pineapple skin/ more of this method in 2010 i think.....
many thanks to mickey for the painting company........bonding with brushes in the kitchen has made west london feel even more like home..!!
Due to recent unfortunate (but fun) incidents in mini-ramp late at night, i have been left incapable of many day-to day activities.
Dragging a plaster cast and bandaged foot around my local cemetary, however had this wonderful effect on my friend Jim's bedroom wall. Kensal Green is worth visiting just for the autumn trees. W10 treating me better each day xx
.My first plaster cast, at aged 25 does indeed have a snake drawn on it.
I took a trip West to East along the Euston road on my bike thinking that it would be terribly poignant if i was hit by a car and tins of blue paint exploded all over the place.
i survived though and in 3 days also found time to do have some ace outdoor therapy at the Lido HERE.
swimming is the closest thing to flying.
Also guarding is the the next best thing to squatting.
Let me introduce you to two of the most wonderful creative people i know. Christo Squier and the lovely miss Zara Gaze
.Together and seperatley they have brought me faith in art futures and strength to fight the system.
To celebrate and to scorn art,love and life. Miss Zara Gaze and I joined independant female forces and made this art-deco hallway masterpiece in her amazing old house on Breakspears rd.. yes.
I'm back in my element in flat 5a with my real Glastonbury family, please come and visit! Paintings galore.!
Faye Suzannah's perfect autumn day would go as follows.
.7am wake with tired legs from skating the bay66miniramp the night before.sleep for half an hour more....
8.30am eggs for breakfast in mikes cafe Blenheim CrescentW11.
9am start drawing on first floor flat garden terrace wall in chalk.
9.30am trip to nu-line paint shop. new paint.new brushes. nice.
10am to 12.30 pm painting mixing colours painting in silence with only the smells from the cafe below to keep me company.
1pm soya cappuchino at Coffee plant and vegetarian quiche from the grain store portobello rd. yum.
1.20 to 6pm painty painty fingers getting cold. great days work!...
6.30pm casual skate through w10 roads to the porchester spa where i swim and soak the paint out from under my fingernails in the steam room...ahhhh.
yes
Because the simple act of applying paint with brushes is far more fun than facing the world sometimes.... i've been slowly but surely calculating and creating geometric patterns in my bedroom and gettting fruity in the kitchen..whilst listening to North London pirate reggae radio stations.....
his pattern evolves a bit each day and keeps me awake at night thinking about where it is going to go next
Somehow this fruit salad design always been a dream of mine.Luckily i live with easy going irishmen
Let's admit it, winters on its way,painting with gloves on out-of-doors is not an appealing prospect...BUT the tourists are all going home and the rooms at the Piccadilly Hostal are going to be empty to paint again..... this is what i painted last year.
At the Piccadilly Hotel in Central London they are encouraging artists from all over to come and decorate rooms so that travellers can have a slightly more creative stay in our capital. I painted a jungle, inspired by the tropics surrounding Santa Cruz in Bolivia
If this wasn't the best skateshop in London before, it is now!. The mexican theme and blue exterior of the wonderful skater-owned "3 amigos" shop opposite Londons' Camden Rd station was perfect for painting! Me and fellow female ripper Helen Lovlee went out of our (sugar) skulls battling typical British weather and general skate-rat harrassment to paint this mono-chrome mural..
Follow Pete, Kev and Francois in their north london skate antics HERE.
Like me, Max is hooked on South America. He commissioned me to paint him a mexican mural.... it turned out really a lot madder than expected but i think Shepton mallet needed cheering up a bit..... and now he has something to look at whilst washing up!.. Gracias para dejarme hacer lo que queria amigo!!
