Upfest Urban Paint Festival 2013

             

Over the bank holiday weekend at the end of May, the Homegrown Collective were very busy indeed!
  Myself, Catch-22, He Dreamt Mars, Lowdown and Danzig had all been picked to go and paint at Upfest, the biggest outdoor paint festival in Europe, held in Bristol city.
  Lowdown and Danzig had made their own arrangements for getting down and staying there, whilst myself, Catch-22 and He Dreamt Mars went down on the Saturday in a coach with a group of art lovers. It was an early start! We met at Baseline studio at 5am and set off on the long journey.

Registration was from 9am, where you go and tell them your name and pick up a little goodie bag which consisted of 3 cans of 94 spray paint, a Posca pen and a map of the site. We were all keen to get started as we had to drive back home later the same day, so had a smaller window of time than a lot of the other artists. 

Myself and Catch-22 were painting in the same area (Vector seating) and set off to get our boards and get cracking. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a wait for our boards as it's a massive event and a lot of artists to sort out. (massive respect to the Upfest crew, they have a huge job to do and did their best) 

A little wooden Spongebob was the first thing I spotted in our area,  bit different I thought! Catch-22 started getting worked up as we waited a long time for boards, both of us aware of the time frame we had, so when they started bringing them out, he dived on one like a man possessed and started painting immediately! 

  He'd practiced his piece at the studio a few days before in different colours, so he was all over it by this time! We heard people saying things like "ooh that's different!" and "Is that spray paint?!"

 as his style is so different to a lot of the stuff on display there. 

Also in our area was the eccentric artist known as DON. He played up to the crowds and the cameras and worked very quickly on his piece inbetween outbursts.  Every time I turned round he'd whipped on some more paint! 

The skills on display were phenomenal! I'm still new to this scene really and don't know artists' names to go with some of the pieces so you'll have to forgive me! 

 I think the 3 eyed lion was by 'Brave 1'. A cool character indeed. His board unfortunately was obscured from view by a big skip, you had to walk round and take a peek from a funny angle, but I was glad I did! His skills are unreal. He was a friend of Pekoe, an awesome illustrator we got chatting to whilst waiting for our boards.  Mad skills all round!

This piece (above) was one of my favourites, done by a lad with a crazy top-knot hairdo right next to Dank. I feel bad I don't know the names of all the artists, but as I say, I'm new to all this and got a bit overwhelmed with all the sweet artwork on show! 

After a long wait for my board, I'd begun to get a bit anxious and worried about how much time I had to get my piece finished, plus the board itself had a slightly sketchy surface and as a couple of people told me,I was brave to choose yellow for a background. It didn't get as flat as I'd like, but after a slow start and waiting for paint to dry, I got into it and completed my piece with enough time to go and have a look around. 

The whole thing was massive! Different areas set out over a whole chunk of the city meaning there was  different vibes going on all over the place. Where Lowdown and HDM were situated, it felt like an actual festival, with people sitting on the floor and heavy tunage coming from the sound systems! 

The piece above was my favourite overall I think, by an artist called 'Case1'. Great concept and application.  Also portrays how I feel sometimes as both a person and an artist, but I won't get into THAT just now! 

 Great work. 

More crazy stencil and freehand work from Chilean artist Osch. (above)

  He's recently done a new piece on a wall in Blackpool and you can catch him at Sand, Sea & Spray over the 14/15/16th June.  He's a real character! 

Even some of the shops and buildings on the street were used as canvases for the artists to throw up their pieces, getting the whole community involved.  It made the place look great to walk down and look at. 

He Dreamt Mars had also practiced his piece upstairs in the studio and when it came down to it on the day, he smashed it with exceptionally clean lines and flat application of paint.  We've now collab'd twice and it seems it's the way forward.  Watch this space for more on that. 

Same for Lowdown.  This is the best version of this piece I've seen him do.  The detail in the pigeon is awesome. 

After meeting back up with HDM once I'd finished, we went for a little walk and a beer and check out some of the other areas, including a beer garden where my pal Irek, AKA 'Tank Petrol' was painting his piece.  Phenomenal attention to detail, my photo doesn't really do it justice. (see below) 

    Tank is flying at the minute, doing pieces all over the place and has his own solo show in Luxemburg very soon. 

The piece above by Arts Anonymous crew was crazy! Paint and some kind of wallpaper paste up application were used to make the piece appear to be ripping through the wall! Skills! 

After a long day in the sun painting, looking at incredible art and networking with great artists, we set off back home for Blackpool aboard the coach.  Catch-22 and HDM were on top form throughout the journey, had me in stitches and all 3 of us had sore shwedes from laughing so hard! Even the driver Peter got involved! 

All in all a great day trip and feel privileged to have been involved in such a great event. 

Next year I'd like to go and stay for longer, spend more time looking at the other work on display and definitely enter the Posca competition.  Myself and HDM have been in talks about doing a bigger board together.  More on that later.....