Still feeling the buzz from Upfest and painting on 'the big job' the week after, the Homegrown Collective were amped and ready for this huge event, both for the town and themselves as artists.
Robin had already told us that myself, He Dreamt Mars, Catch-22, Lowdown and Danzig were all painting on the pier, the first four all on one cube (8 x 8ft panel each), so myself, Mars and Catch-22 decided to see if we could create a 3 man collaboration piece by tying in with each others' designs, as our work all shares elements of space, futurism and graphic styles.
I've always had a fascination with space and all things cosmic and have been playing around with spray paint recently, trying to create space themed backgrounds to work over. I'm getting better with each attempt and this time, fueled by the power of teaming up once again with HDM and the mighty Catch-22 on board aswell, it felt like I brought my A-game and produced a pretty decent looking space!
Working onto a pre painted black board, it's a case of adding and mixing colours of spray paint, whipping lines and shapes round with various sizes of cap and adding black in again over the top to build up cloudy, patchy areas, or at least, that's how I do it anyway! It's trial and error!
I accounted for the other artists' input into my design during early sketches, but on the day it had to change slightly due to where we were positioned on the cube and Catch-22's design. HDM was now painting onto the top left of my space and Catch-22 was bringing in the shards from top right over my Jupiter-esque planet.
Spirits were high and the banter and antics started to flow early! Catch-22 is a mad man and dived straight into the double fist pump and face puller combos as he threw up his initial stencils, no messing!
The prospect of the four of us working together in one area at such a big event, surrounded by talented artists such as Julian Kimmings, Zina and Oliver Winconek, was exciting for us all and really made us step up our game. Each of us was trying new things in our work and attempting to bring those together over 3 of the panels was a new high for the collective.
Lowdown's work is a lot different to the other 3 of ours, so he opted to go it alone on his panel but he was bringing new depth and detail to his own work and it was still great that the four of us were all in close proximity.
More than happy with my space background, I got the shape of my alien city masked off and sprayed in. I used a bright yellowy-green colour as a base and spritzed a whole number of colours over the top to try and solve the issue of black Posca cracking over the top of yellow spray paint. (I got schooled with this at Upfest!) I then went round the side and gave He Dreamt Mars a hand with his, but he was already smashing it himself and bringing to life another cosmic storm of wonder!
We kept surprising each other Mars and I, with new little twists and things we'd learn over the course of day 1!
Danzig was working on a panel right next to mine and he threw up an awesome background for his piece as well, using reds and yellows on top of a pre painted black board. Like myself, he said it was just a case of trial and error with spray paint and rising to the occasion. He was on hand with a box of crazy art equipment, including some insane Molotow items he said we could use if we wanted!
Also on hand was our man from Nigeria, Kenny Salau AKA Kenny Wizzy. He's been working with us in the studio since his arrival on these shores and his keenness to learn and willingness to be on hand to help has been invaluable to the collective. He helped Lowdown in the preparation stages of his work, cutting stencils and being there to lift them onto the board on the day.
The good vibes were flowing and everyone was having a great time on the first day, despite the hard rain that came down in torrents, often dripping through the ceiling above and causing mild concern!
At 5.30pm, we all started to pack away for the day and head to the Winter Gardens for a Q and A session with some of the artists from out of town.
We ran into Kashink along the way who was working on one of her big colourful characters on the wall at the side of Nando's. A real character, Kashink hails from Paris and can be recognised by the drawn on moustache she sports often! It was a real buzz when she arrived on the scene a couple of days before, in time for being interviewed by the press alongside myself, Catch-22 and Shai Dahan, another great artist from Brooklyn, now living in Sweden. We'd spoken at the first Sand, Sea & Spray event a couple of years ago and she's been a favourite of mine ever since. It was nice that she remembered me and the banter could flow easily! She was keen to crack on with her piece, but we told her that time was pushing on and she was needed at the Winter Gardens, so we all headed off.
Answering questions to a crowd of enthusiasts, were Dale Grimshaw, now an owner of his own gallery, Guy Denning, a real character and big name in the scene, Kashink and Shai Dahan. I'd spoken to Shai previously outside the Old Rock Factory where we were all throwing up pieces for the Gazette to photograph. A really interesting guy, he's lived and worked in a number of places across the globe and his insight during the Q and A was an eye opener as an up and coming artist.
All four of the artists answered questions with insightful and detailed accounts of their different experiences with their craft and really put things into perspective. I went away with a positive feeling that you should just do what you do best, don't chase the money and that only a handful of artists command ridiculous sums of money for their work, so don't feel like it's an impossible dream!
Round the corner at the staff entrance to the Winter Gardens, a new big piece had been painted by Idiom, whom I believe are two brothers from London. I think My Dog Sighs may have helped them on it as well, as I seem to recall seeing a photo of him adding into it. The 'games' had begun and the town was already starting to feel the buzz! Now it was back down to the pier to claim our handful of shells to get free drinks with all the other artists. This was a great opportunity to network and talk to some of the big names in the scene. I had a good old chat with Inkie, a well established free hand spray demon from London, who tells me he too has OCD! I met Zed 1 from Italy, who had to ask me to speak slower! I was getting excitable after a few drinks! He tells me it's easier to paint in Italy than you might think, legally or illegally and after telling him of my plans to do a Euro trip in September, I started realising that this night could possibly secure me some places to visit on my travels!
After chatting to a few people and some more drinks, myself, Catch-22, Lowdown and other local artist Sam Jayne Simpson went for a chill and take some photos of the work so far. The structural timber of the pier made for good backdrops and ideal for framing in the photos.
It was also a chance to get to know some of the SSS helpers Robin had on board to help out. James and Hannah are themselves young artists and had a great attitude toward the event. We had a good laugh that first night!
Our man from Bangladesh and rising artist HM Revenue, AKA Raki was down with his lady Rhiana taking great pics with his magical fish eye lense and getting right involved in the frivolities!
I think it's safe to say, day 1 went off without a hitch! (Ok, maybe the rain at one point WAS a bit much and stopped some artists from painting, but it was never going to spoil the mood!)
We stayed out for a bit, but got a fairly early night as we were up early the next day for round 2!
The sunshine came out on the saturday in force and spirits were high once more!
Catch-22 was throwing up paint and shapes like a bad man and got started on crossing over both mine and HDM's boards with shardy goodness!
More than happy with our space themed backgrounds, HDM and myself got to work adding in the details on our pieces with the idea in mind of adding onto each others later on.
We were having a great time! Trying new things and them working well was a great experience, especially knowing we were surrounded by some big names and incredible talent.
I used spray paint this time to fill in big areas of black, rather than using the big Posca pen I've been used to in the past. I got comments all weekend from onlookers who were impressed with the straightness of my lines!
Watching Catch-22 do his 'big reveals' is always a treat! His passion for his work combined with some bravado fuels the rest of the collective on as well as bringing some much needed humour to the event!
Working next to us on another cube were the fantastic 20/20 boys from London, Phil and Peter, who use bold colours and patterns with clean cut paste ups and big stencils to create fabulous imagery and statements. These boys were great to chat to and I can see us keeping in touch. Just round from them were SOR2 and REMAK from Bassque Country in the Spanish mountains. Another great pair of artists and cool characters, we had a good ol chat as they were very approachable and had a great outlook on life . SOR2 says when I'm on my Euro trip, I have a place at his to stay if I wish. Big smiles all round!
Things were shaping up nicely! The sun was out, the mood was great and everyone around us was putting out some fantastic artwork.
Zina, an insanely good spray painter from Norway threw her piece up in record time! I joked with her in the pub later that it seemed she took fifteen minutes to complete and she claimed it was more like 3 hours. Still amazing!
At the peak of day two on the pier,there was an influx of people coming round with sketchbooks asking for autographs and doodles,which was a nice feeling to be a part of, if not a little surreal. It did however give that sense that we were all part of something great and people wanted to remember that.
I'm not sure if he was a helper or just a lil dude down for a great weekend, but this one lad Alex went that little bit further and started off something else. He had myself and He Dreamt Mars sign and doodle his shoes! He later told me that once I've spray lacquered them, he will never wear them again!
My wee pal Fran Mort was Queen of the Pier and on hand all day to make sure the artists were taken care of with food and drink and in return we also signed her book. She's a real live Wendy lady and looked after us all properly.
I tell you, there were some seriously talented artists around us that day! Quick too! Neil Ennui from Sheffield was on the panel round the side from Danzig and he smashed his piece out furiously! It changed colour often as he'd throw on another layer and the finished piece was a belter!
At some point, I decided to go a little bit MORE abstract and also pay a little homage to Catch-22, as I realised I wouldn't actually be adding onto his panel. I masked off some shards and blacked them out. My little pal George was keen to help me take the tape off and we had a good chat about spray paint. If his mum Zoe lets him, we'll hopefully have a go at painting something in the near future. Masks of course!
I'd always planned to finish off on the Sunday and He Dreamt Mars and Lowdown said the same, so we headed off to get cleaned up for a well deserved pint or 3 and a good ol' knees up! Catch-22 of course had finished his piece as he works like the wind itself! (More like the gust of a low flying 747!)
That Saturday night was a good 'un! a mixture of meeting up with my own friends and partying with our fellow artists! Catch-22 and HDM went home early as it was father's day in the morning leaving Lowdown and myself to carry on.
Scrooges was crazy! Hip Hop scratching and breakdancing on the first floor and deep groove house upstairs in the new room! Boss la! I sampled a bit of both before heading back to the Blueroom where a crazy game of pool was going on and a good chunk of artists getting involved in the frivolities!
Some great banter went down and even a bit more book and shoe signing!
My Dog even sat me down at one point outside and we chatted and had a ciggie while he put my drunk mind at ease about fame and fortune! Ha ha!
Then with a glint in his eye he went back inside and threw some shapes on the dance floor! There were no sighs tonight!
On the Sunday I was up early again despite a fair few shikkas in the bluey the night before, keen to crack on and knowing I had to finish.
I felt atone point like I was dragging it out and hind sight has shown me how I could've finished my piece had I extended more thought on the lines. I did however do myself proud with the space background (something I wouldn't ordinarily admit to!) so I cracked on and finished it to a level I was happy with. A couple of people told me that my piece was their favourite which gave me a little boost as well!
Everyone had either finished the day before or were finishing off today. It was time to inspect!
The Homegrown Collective had thoroughly raised the bar I thought, if I do say so myself!
I feel privileged to be part of something so good and I can only see us going from strength to strength.
Zina, Oliver Winconek, Julian Kimmings and Agent Provocateur all killed it. AP told me he has recently designed labels for beer bottles on sale at a pub on one of the legs of the Tour De France! Madness! The man is ON IT!
He Dreamt Mars did it once again unleashing new skills and ideas,this time in the form of a gold brace on the teeth of one of his planets and I switched it up by Infecting his blimp basket and pulled out a blinder by creating a planet with a simple stencil for the first time ever. Fortune favours the brave!
Two completely different vibes from the 20/20 boys and Danzig,but some great work.
After heading off to Nando's to use up our free food vouchers with our ladies in tow, Lowdown and I parted ways for a bit as I wanted to check out the other art around the town.
I wasn't disappointed!
Using walls recently painted over from last year, the car park opposite Rileys is an open air gallery of wonder!
Pieces by Zed 1, Krio, Akse. Lonac, Martin Whatson and Jay Sharples are there now for all to see and behold. Mad skills all round!
Smug had painted over his incredible piece from last year (woman with headphones) with an unbelievably real looking man in a top hat weaving magic! (I think it might be a self portrait, I've only seen one photo of Smug!)
And check out the Steve Buscemi piece by Akse- I swear the closer you get, the more it looks like its going to drip off the wall, the flesh looks real!
Some crazy stuff here! But now it was time to get down to South promenade and check out Inkie's gold tram! He'd shown me pics of it on the Friday night,but I'd heard it took a battering from the rain and I was keen to see if he'd sorted it out.
Wicked choice of colours! His freehand skills are legendary and his trademark swirls and lady face looked bold against the gold. I want to know how many cans that took to cover!
I finished off the afternoon by going back down to where it all began, Robin's studio at the Old Rock Factory. Only a few days before, Catch-22 and I had been down there being interviewed for the paper and there were some pieces on the walls and windows including two by myself and a secret sticker bomb from HDM, but now, Parlee, Zina, Zed 1 and Krio had all throw pieces up and My Dog Sighs eyed up the door opposite the entrance and collabed on a sweet piece with Jay Sharples. (Surprise Robin!)
Sam Jayne (who also collabed with My Dog down the side of Winter Gardens) had done a sweet job painting the shutters and Kashink had thrown up a mighty piece using the brickwork as a guide!
Down the side of the Winter Gardens it was becoming crystal clear how much fun My Dog had this weekend! An Everyman in a doorway and a big wall piece collab with local artist Sam Jayne Simpson, he was firing on all cylinders. Amazing pieces by Dale Grimshaw, Remak and SOR2, Guy Denning and Foundry can be seen along here and some sic sic work from Eska, Fauna Graphic, Tank (not to be confused with Irek Tank Petrol) and Toasters Crew.
The work speaks for itself, Go check it out and ask yourself, is it vandalism? If the answer is yes you need to wake up and smell the spray paint! It's beautiful and it makes the town look amazing! (Not just my opinion!)
I'll finish off with a special piece by my man from Chile, Otto Shade, AKA Osch.
He threw up a piece a few days before the event down the side of the new Who shop. (He also did a piece near Robin's studio,but scaffolding stopped me getting a pic!)
Mad skills all round! Amazing to be part of it. I hope I get asked back next year!
Oh, I almost forgot, I heard a rumour Banksy had snuck into the town and threw up this cheeky wee piece! The real deal, or a copycat? You decide!
Thanks for reading. Check you laters!
(* P.s- My information on the My Dog Sighs/Sam Jayne Simpson collab was incorrect. I believe it was James who helped on the piece down the side of the Winter Gardens. My apologies to the artists. 30.06.13)