Last weekend, Catch 22 and myself joined forces to paint at Roc Up, an event aimed at putting use to a venue called The Oracle, a place for young people to go and express themselves which hasn't until recently I'm told, been put to good use.
The event was organised by Steve Lawrence, manager of Underbar and Bloc Roc, a man with drive and positivity in abundance!
The aim was to get young people in to watch and have a go at various urban activities which some of them may not have access to. On offer was a paint session with myself and Catch 22, watching us spray paint boards we set up and be on hand to advise with an open spray wall for them to have a go at.
There was a dance studio session with West Coast Dance Crew, extreme sports with Flow Skate and Lady's Rollers, free giveaways and competitions for them to enter and a whole host of musical talent supplying the tunage for the day, including local rookies Relic and Beach Club (Wil Craig and Chris Leahy), Dj Marshall Myth Of Unity, Sound Slaves, Forthkind and more.
It was an early and slow start to the day, but I knew it would be a good day with the banter of Catch 22 to keep me happy. The football was on at the stadium nearby so it was quiet for a while. We just got on with what we came to do. (Stretch out the impressive wingspans one might say!)
I decided to try my hand again at some freestyle spray painting seeing as we had a number of spare boards on hand and there weren't many kids around at first.
It's good to free up sometimes and try not to fuss about my lines being neat. I had fun painting this one. A few of the kids liked it aswell. They said it was 'sic'! haha!
The security were sound and chatted to us all day. They didn't have much to do bless them, as the numbers hardly swelled all day. At one point we did have some kids waiting for a turn at the spray painting, as we only put out a limited number of cans and Poscas. They seemed to be enjoying it though.
Catch 22 was trying out a design he'd used recently for a commission, but in a different colourway. Always a treat to watch him do his ting and listen to the commentary he brings along with it!
Despite how quiet it was, it's always good to jam at events like this with your peeps. Just round the back in the carpark, our mates Relic and Beach Club were serving up some fresh beats, whilst pro rollerblader Leo was giving skating lessons and showing off his skills with the kids.
Also making an appearance (after his debut @ Rudimental, The Sugar House in Lancaster recently) was 'Lil' Ted', my character logo made big and realised in wood. Steve kicked me into gear the few days before he took the Reverb Soundsystem to the gig, saying I should have some presence at the events, even if I can't be there in person. So he gave me a jigsaw and I made a life size version of the little guy and spray painted it. I was quite impressed with myself having never really done something like that before. Not on that scale anyways.
We let him guard the gate and make sure the 'house rules' were obeyed!
(I'm looking into getting Ted on clothing at the minute, to coincide with him being displayed on illuminated tableaus for the upcoming illumination switch on. Watch this space.)
With it not being so busy and the rules about taking photos with kids around being sketchy, I just made sure I took some nice shots of what was going on. I don't think it was unsuccessful though. The kids that made it down had a great time and if we can reach just a few and get them enthused about things going on in their town, then we have succeeded.
The only problem myself and Catch 22 had with our paint jam session, was once the spray paint we'd put out for the kids was gone, that was it really. I think a few of them decided to try and flat colour out what was already down so they could start again and rinsed the paint quickly. I saw a couple of the pens afterwards and they had literally been worn down to the plastic! If we had been on safari in Kenya, there would be carcasses everywhere! haha!
Once I'd had a go at the freehand stuff, I was back up to my old tricks with super neat Posca lines on a techy triangle piece. Can't help myself!
Catch 22's pieces looked good and as always it was a pleasure working alongside him. Steve was still positive despite the lack of numbers and I will be working with him in the future on other projects involving the youth of Blackpool. It was a good day I thought.
(And I think Lil Ted enjoyed it!)
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