KIng Chameleon

Nuno Marques is a Portugese biologist. Also known as king Chameleon. If you ask him nicely he will take you on an ecological tour of the Olhao islands of the Algarve in his boat.... or take you on long walks with his 4 dogs on the Armona sand dunes. But if your really lucky....he will invite you to paint his garden wall in the sun and eat grillled fish everyday with his beautiful girlfriend, wonderful family and hilarious friends.

Here is me thinking, yeah life is good.,

Vera and Chester helping out inbetween laughs and awesome meals

And the before shot of Nunos yard.

Grand Union Brixton

Grand Union. 123 Acre lane Brixton

When i was 18 and i took my first trip across the equator, i had no idea that hanging out on Thai islands, drinking thai whiskey and scuba diving would lead to this.

An 8year old sketchbook full of drawings like these, taught me a new and beautiful lesson in why small pocket sized records of visual experiances are important for more than your memories .

Forget the dover bookshop , i'm planning on traveling more of the world with glue, scissors and a pencil and creating my own image bank.

4 huts, 4 themes 4 days and one fantastic assistant. Helen you rule.!
HELEN RULES......>check out her blog

Birthday birds. Rushcroft terrace.

Why i am spending so much time up ladders??? why?? because i love it and i love you!!!
this weeks hard work payed off amazingly in smiles and laughter.. and even some tears.

This bird wall was whipped up whilst i was still incredibly wobbly from the night before.

I started at lunchtime and was done by the time the other birthday girl got home form work. The best way to spend my birthday .Dove suprise for Jeanne

And also this week i decorated this warehouse wall in time for a wedding anniversary !

Funtimes all round!

Mau Mau Portobello Rd

This week i left my brush marks on a wall i've had my eye on for years.... 3 day+night shifts in the heart of Portobello at the MauMau Bar was a Westlondon dream come true. Shame about the photo quality!
So many walls not enough time..... x

Made in Brasil. Camden Town

The sun shone all of last week on Inverness St, London N1

PLUS i got to listen to latin music and eat feijoadas whilst i worked.
Camden is full of characters it's a joy to get to know it.

Bar Vinyl with Josh Alpha

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..

Lesen und malen in Linz, Austria

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

Henrique's room

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

UAB Mile End

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.

Black Cherry Trees

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.

Perfectly Ripe.

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..!!

Autumn tree

Sticks and stones........

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.

E3 flock

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.

Zaras house

Heartbreak on the P4 bus to Brockley

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.

Bird wall with Kim Krumble

I'm back in my element in flat 5a with my real Glastonbury family, please come and visit! Paintings galore.!