Hello May Lane

Before starting on this particular article it must be noted that all artworks shown remain the property of the artists and cannot be reproduced without their express permission. The 2095 chick is simply showing her photographs in order to share her experience.

The 2095'ers intro to May Lane was day that rained, where her brolly decided NOT to behave itself and her teeny tiny SX20 was somewhat new. 

Add to mix the 2095'er not being completely comfortable or familiar with the area at this particular moment in time, but any reservations or "fear" were abated  the instant her eyes clapped on the most magnificent wall of colour and detail.

The 2095 chick does not nor ever will enhance or over process images using software  

Trim yes, digitally destroy with over processing no

The 3D effect was mind boggling.  No matter what angle, no matter how far down the lane you went to achieve "the shot", it was pure perfection every frame. 

The 2095'er found the intricate detail so hypnotic she found herself thrust in to the "once I'm behind the lens I am completely in my own world" land.  And what a delightful place it is to be.

In an almost robotic manner, the 2095 continued exploring in wonderment, quickly realising that this is not a place where you "rush" through, for you may just miss something.

this piece remains intact for which the 2095'er & many others are most grateful

As with most "landmark" discoveries there are times when the 2095'er must simply shut up and allow emotions, heart palpitations and "oh my god" moments be shown via multimedia (nb: this clip does not comprise 100% Mays but also includes other firsts on her maiden Inner West voyage: thus becoming the impetus for the street-art revolution/obsession of the 2095'er)

It would also be remiss of the 2095 chick not to include her first introduction to the extraordinary world of Vexta.  The day was dark enough (with gloomy rain clouds) for the 2095'er to see exactly what this piece was in that it was designed to glow at night.

kindly reproduced with permission from Vexta

Like most discoveries or "first heart skipping moments", the need to return became unbearable.  Having to wait for another 12 hours was seemingly intolerable.  But given the location of the 2095'ers dwelling deemed it almost impossible to do otherwise.

But return she did and then some.  The beautiful thing about this particular place is that each week there will literally be something new, or a "work in progress" thus keeping it fresh and exciting. 

Nothing smells more beautiful to a photographer than that distinct aroma of paint. Clear indicator of new new new.

On one particular revisit as the 2095 wound her way on the direct route from St Peter's train station she noticed an artist and from a distance she pulled out this teeny tiny camera and got (well to the 2095'ers mind at least) a pretty good shot.

Confidence for once decided to be on the 2095 chick's side.  Walking up slowly and waiting until said artist was having a bit of a breather (literally), the 2095 struck up a conversation albeit it somewhat hesitantly at the start.

It revolved around folk going up at times, hurling abuse at him "why did you paint over what was there, we HATE it", to which the 2095'er replied "hell if they don't like they don't have to look at it" and from there the conversation flowed.  It wasn't until the end that he looked at me and said "we are actually 'connected' on flickr".

Jaw dropped: see the 2095 might know them by the street names rather than the "real world" names so it is always an incredibly humbling experience (and yes..even now the 2095 is always blown away when an artist walks up and introduces themselves then saying "oh your cap gave you away, everyone knows you wear a black cap") when someone whose work you admire from afar not only takes the time to talk to you but then says they already know you albeit by some form or other of social media!  No words can be found to describe that moment.

The piece below again is not strictly Mays and includes the immediate surrounds but hell, it's the 2095'ers blog....

Recently Mays has become Caroline but in an ever changing world there will always be one constant and for that we as photographers and lovers of art, (streetart, graffiti or whatever you wish to call it) are and will always be forever in your debt

May Lane Flickr Set

5 Questions with Clint Sf Bautista

It was during the preview shots for Painting Grounds 2011 at Tortuga Studios in St Peters, that the 2095 spied an absolutely stunning piece laying on a workspace.  

Unsure if this piece was to be included in the exhibition the 2095'er took the shot, not realising that this image would stay with her to the point of obsession and subsequent purchase. 

On a return visit the 2095'er found herself again wholly engulfed in the work of this artist taking photo after photo after photo.

Such was the enthral and post purchase, the 2095'er felt it would be remiss to NOT not contact the artist to express how much she loved his work and that she had in fact purchased one.  Thus the connection with Clint Sf Bautista began.

Can you give a bit of history behind the man known as Clint Sf Bautista

I am a 24 year old, Filipino descent Sydney based painter and tattooer.  In 2006 I studied Fine Arts, Majoring in Advertising at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines but only completed 2 years of study prior to my family migrating to Sydney.

I continued my Fine Arts study but instead Majoring in Painting/Drawing at UNSW COFA in 2009 and completed my degree in 2011.

In those years when I was studying at COFA, I was exposed to different art cultures like street art and tattooing, and started to explore them , which (looking back) I thought I never really thought I would because back in my home country people get judged big time if you were doing that kind of stuff.

Your art could be at times perceived as being intricately morbid.  However any fear of the subject  is (to the 2095'ers mind at least) counteracted immediately with the clever use of colour.  Was this a deliberate choice of style or is there a subconscious level of creativity that drives you

All the morbid artworks that I do, for example skulls are a representation of death and the grotesque human figures, are a symbolism of the ugly side of humanity.

For me the ultimate happiness is death, so maybe in my subconscious I am trying to make death a happy place in my head by using bright attractive colours.  On the grotesque human part, most of the concepts I come up with are based on my own life experiences and some of them are pretty bad.  So maybe I'm trying to cover the undesirable with bright & vivid colours.

People think I trip on acid a lot but I really don't.  Not to say I may have!

From art to tattoo (which for some they are both one and the same, the 2095'er included although her three tatts are teeny weenies): was it a difficult transition to become a fulltime skin art creator and do you "miss" the other part at all

It was pretty hard being a canvas/still-surface painter to becoming a tattooer because you try to get the same results in a live skin as how you drew it on paper.  And the mediums and equipment you use are different too.

Oil paints or other mediums using a brush for me is easy to use on any still surface because once you make an error, it's easy to adjust and go over it

while a vibrating machine with needles on skin were a bit scary in the beginning because there is no room for error.  I mean, you wouldn't want to desecrate someone's skin and people getting tattoos definitely do not want their skin ruined!

There is a lot of risk in tattooing which people don't realise.  You have to know how the machine works, know how the skin works (so you can make adjustments to the machine when you're working) and know the colours as every person has a different type of skin (which can also depend upon their heritage)

And most importantly keeping the environment you work in is sterile, as if it's like a hospital operating theatre.

I kind of miss painting on canvasses and walls, but the discovery of vast subcultures of tattooing gets me hooked. Now I just usually paint on paper using watercolour.  

Some of the paintings I do (for some people) are quite simple but I enjoy it more because the symbolism of the images interests me a lot.  Plus the factor that a person gets a design that makes me think "oh!  why are you getting this tattoo?": and that interests me more than anything else.

Can you give a run down from concept to imprint to permanent ink of skin art and what has been your most satisfying creation to date

At the moment (most of the time) it's the clients who are the ones that come up with concepts/design (especially as I work in a walk-in shop).  I just help them with it and interpret their ideas but of course I always try to put my "essence" into every design and of course make the end result looks beautiful on their skin. 

Every concept also depends on the different styles of subcultures in tattooing.  And to be honest, I haven't really found my style yet.  I'm still in that stage of exploration.

So far I try to get satisfaction from everything that I do, but I'm always trying to push myself further so as to get better.

It's only my first year of being a "pro tattooer" (insert the 2095'er saying "you're kidding!  there is no way I would have thought it was year 1.  your work is incredible!") so I know I just can't be satisfied with my works, although I enjoy every minute of the creative process of tattooing, eg: when I do a nice clean line I give myself a tap on the shoulder as a reward!

Where do you see the world of Clint Sf Bautista headed

Within a year I see myself travelling, always with my design portfolio, guest spotting in different shops around the world and learning more from the masters of the craft of tattooing.

And pushing myself further because I want to contribute something to the craft rather than just taking from it.

Of course doing some street-art in the cities I will be travelling to and if fate gives me more time, I might go back to doing my Fine Art paintings.

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Not only is the 2095'er blown away by the "first year" of Clint's tattooing career, she remains a devoted fan of his use of colours and creativity and thanks him for sharing a bit of his time (and of course allowing images to be reproduced for this article) giving a peek into the world known as Clint Sf Bautista

5 Questions with Andros

The meeting between Andros and the 2095 chick was directly linked to the infamous Outpost but with a twist.

I had been posting some of my images up on a group page dedicated to PM3 and a compliment "oh you found mine!"

Shortly after, I received a pm via FB asking if I would be interested in doing some preview shots for what was to be the inaugural Painting Grounds Live.

Who was I to say no!!!! 

Admittedly the 2095 had that ridiculously in-opportune almost paralysing fear/shyness rearing it's head but once met, handshake done and a train trip later I arrived at Tortuga and was thrust in to a magical world of creativity, meeting artists (whom I must confess I had absolutely NO idea who they were as it was formal rather than street-name time) and then getting hopelessly lost behind the lens and loving every minute of it.

It was also a "lightening" moment for the 2095'er as she had unbeknowingly taken a photo in May Lane of one of his works waaaay back in the day.  

Part of my hunting down new art ritual includes always checking to see if little pieces are still there and so far this little baby is!

Here are my 5 questions with Andros.

Can you give a little bit of insight behind your street-name and the beginnings of Andros.

Well back in ye olde highschool days, one of my mates used to say "any enemy of Andros is my enemy".  I think he got that from the Nintendo game Lylat Wars, and the name has stuck since then.

I would say what inspired me to get in to street-art was travel and what I had seen from around the world, especially my trip to France in 2009.  That was when I started to get interested. 

Every now and then would go for a paint with friend, got to know more people who did it, started collaborating with other artists from the UK and USA and was involved in a project "Collaboration Nation" which is when someone starts a sketch, it gets shared amongst 4 people who each add their styles/techniques the piece thus making a really interesting clash of styles which blended in quite well together.

I began to spray paint more around 2010 when I met a few other street-artists and we would occasionally get together as a group, go out for a paint at a warehouse or at walls where we had permission to do so.

How did your signatures style evolve.  Do you prefer the raw of street or the confines of conformity

I would say my style has evolved from sketching and always being interested in cartoons which have influenced my style: sometimes giving it a witty or dark sort of vibe to it.

I have also been studying which has evoked different styles yet always leaving elements from my street-art, allowing it to evolve  and always trying to explore new characters and ideas.

I am enjoying the confines of conformity but I dig the rawness of the streets and how everyone kind of works together in one way or another.  I have met a lot of people who have inspired me along the way from all types of art backgrounds.

Your development and "birth" of Painting Grounds (which was a phenomenal success) came on the tail-end of the Outpost.  How difficult was it to not only come up with the concept but deliver the goods.

I got the name "Painting Grounds" literally from a jar of paint on my table which had the words "painting ground" written on its side.

I came up with the concept because I love live art and the atmosphere at exhibitions.  I thought what a perfect place (Tortuga) to deliver not only that experience but have it combined at one event.

one of the many preview shots of Painting Grounds 2011 

by the 2095'er

Show living art was done at previous events and I invited all the artists who had been involved to join, along with new friends I had met along the way.  I think there were 15 artists doing live art on opening night.

Painting Grounds 2012 had 23 artists: some who also did live art.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to organise because I had quite a few friends helping out on what was turned out to be an amazing event.

The 2013 line up will be bigger and I hope and I am looking to doing a couple of side events in the not too distant future.

Which is your preferred medium or does it depend upon the project in hand

My preferred medium is pen and paper, but I do like to use acrylics and copic pens. Spray paint is also a fun medium to use and is quite addictive once you start to paint with it.

Are you able to define your art/streetart in 5 words

Mashup of styles & humour

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The 2095 chick has a massive gratitude towards Andros for it hadn't been for his initial contact she may have not met some of THE most amazing artists and she looks forward to seeing what the world of Andros will bring