Heatherwood court is a mental health hospital based in Pontypridd. I was asked to create four murals on the walls of the different units in the courtyard, with ideas taken from brainstorming workshops with the clients. The idea was to create murals depicting nature, animals and using different seasons to help give each of the four units its own identity. Thanks to the team at Heatherwood and everyone that got involved in the project.
I had the pleasure of jazzing up this Denim jacket for Rebecca recently. We went for a Psychedelic Hippy Disco Party Reggae B-boy vibe. More of this please.
The Play Loft is a play centre and cafe in Whitchurch, Cardiff. Ive worked for Tom the owner on previous projects, so it was nice to catch up and help him out on another of his businesses. The idea was to create a Mike the Knight theme to go with the castle he’s built on the top floor. Go check out the space if you’ve got young kids, they are super friendly and the cafe is great.
I was contacted by Hywel in Merthyr recently and asked to brighten up a container they use on their community allotment. They have a woodland walk area, which is used to engage members of the community and educate them on wildlife and plant in the wooded areas. Their idea was to paint the container with a woodland scene, to try and reflect the beauty of the area more than the metal structure was currently doing. Because of the ridges in the container, its always best to keep designs simple, but it worked out well. There will be a garden area built in front of the container, so hopefully soon i’ll get some more pics of how the area develops.
A few walls from Kent painted between Christmas and new year with the main man Skore. A christmas tradition to get together for some good old fashioned Graffiti. Always fun.
The last commission 2016 was a fun one… painting this camper for Bristol-based Quirky Campers, a camper van hire company looking to do something different. These guys hire out campers for you to explore your nomadic side and sniff out those beautiful corners of the UK in style! This one is called “Leon”, and will blend well in the woods and forests off the beaten track. Just remember where you park it…
At the end of 2016 I managed to sneak a couple of last-minute jobs… one of them was for The Hashery, a brand new eatery in Cardiff. The 4 owners were still in the build process, and were looking for “Street Art” inspired murals for their walls. They had an idea of colour schemes and content, but gave me pretty much free reign to design something within those boundaries. They wanted a female portrait mixed with messy “Graffiti”, which led to me throwing paint at the walls and getting loose! Super fun!
Once the 2 walls were finished, I was asked to do another interior wall to tie in with the others, and an outside wall in a prominent city-centre location. Bonus!
Go check them out when you’re in town… Burgers, Cocktails and Mussels on the menu. 🙂
I was approached by The Heath Hospital and the contracted Architects working on the new build in the Noah’s Ark children’s hospital to create a large Jungle mural in the brand new outdoor courtyard. It was tough to find the right balance of “not too kiddy’ and ‘not too scary”. I looked at lots of ideas including classic animations such as The Jungle Book etc for inspiration, but wanted to do something a little outside of the usual “jungle” box, which tends to have lots of vines and banana leaves. I eventually found some inspiration looking at more tropical jungle landscapes, with vibrant colours and softer styled animals, which was given the green light… and Hey Presto! If you ever find yourself in the Noah’s Ark hospital at The Heath, go check it out.
Well, that was fun! After a month of planning, painting, building, promoting, stressing, more painting, hanging, lighting, and last minute problem solving, we finally opened the doors to the Peaceful Progress “Light vs Dark” exhibition. We had people travel down from London, Nottingham, Kent, Cambridge, Birmingham, Carmarthen, and all over Cardiff to the opening night. A great mix of people and great positive vibes. It was amazing to have so many people turn up despite the weather being… and I quote a friend of ours… “Biblical”. I mean biblical in the sense that we half expected Noah to float by on his Ark, it was that wet!
Some Thank-you’s are in order. Firstly to Paul Allen, who has done an amazing job documenting so much of it, and also lending me the equipment to time-lapse around 3 weeks of painting in the space. This is all for a film project based on Peaceful Progress and centred around the show… but thats all a bit under-wraps for now. Watch this space. Thanks to the DJ’s who came from London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Berlin to rock the space and create great vibes! JSTAR, Tom Porridge, Brain, Dan Jose, Rich Roast and Kevs. Thanks to David Gardiner and Steve Dubs for the lighting. Thanks to Alex Kidd for helping whitewash the space at the beginning, and lending us the decks, and thanks to Gorilla Audio for help with the PA. Lastly, thanks to everyone who came and checked the show and made it such a great night!
It was a long journey, with a lot of personal energy thrown at it, Both physical and mental. The main aim of doing the show was simply to make it all about painting for fun, spending the time to create something for ourselves, and not driven by money. The Boiler House is a community-interest company, and is not-for-profit, so all proceeds were put back into sustaining the space for future non-commercial use. This was all about the mission. But its also good to back to reality, and creating new work for the people who have been so patient waiting for me to get this exhibition off my chest.
Here are some pics, taken before the opening by the talented Paul Allen. Enjoy.
Peaceful Progress and The Boiler House are proud to present… LIGHT VS DARK. With entertainment provided by DUB in the PUB DJ’s, Dan Jose (#Unity) and JSTAR.
A monumental Graffiti Exhibition celebrating 18 years behind a spraycan through the eyes of Peaceful Progress. Over 1500sq ft of wall painted at The Boiler House Graffiti Gallery in Canton, Cardiff, plus new work on canvas.
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Entertainment on the evening will be provided by the mighty DUB IN THE PUB. Good vibes Reggae, Ska and Dub. The original Party-starters providing Off-the-cuff Dancefloor Bangers throughout the night.
Plus… Special guest JSTAR.
Prolific Bass Music Producer & DJ and all round good egg JSTAR played at the original Boiler House venue in Llandaf North 6 years ago at the sold out Fair Play Festival. Nowadays the bass-culture junky does official remixes, (over 60 productions for Madness, DJ Vadim, The Black Seeds, Ari Up, Mark Ronson, Major Lazer & more ); and DJs globally from Mexico to Manchester, Denmark to Delhi. Currently tours with MC Soom T, as well as with Spikey Tee and MC Honey Brown.
“Jstar is an original don. Early DJ that helped inspire the Major Lazer crew! Bad man!” Diplo
“always good to have a J-Star moment … like it.” Daddy G (Massive Attack)
http://jstarmusic.com/
https://soundcloud.com/
On the evening: Food provided by the Shabbanackle, Visuals, Party Caravan, Giveaways, and a general Block-Rocking atmosphere!
FREE ENTRY – The Boiler House, Unit D, Paper mill Rd, CF11 8DH. 5pm – 1am. Kids welcome early.
Hope to see you there. 🙂
