These boots were made for walking…

A while ago I attended an Arts Council Wales training session, where I met an artist called Richard. He told me of a project he was about to start which involved walking from Yorkshire to Wales. This is the kind of project that I always fancy doing, but never do because I need to look after the children. This time I spoke to Owen about it, and his response was ‘we’ll figure it out’. AMAZING. Turns out I was putting the block in my own way and the girls are old enough now to cope with me being away for a week.

On Saturday I’ll be joining Richard for the second leg of ‘The Great Big Walk’. It’s organised by The Eden Project, inspired by the Great Get Together. Friends and family of the late MP Jo Cox started the Great Get Together, with the aim of connecting people and building stronger communities.

Jo was murdered last year and fittingly, I included her name in two pieces of work about 118 women killed by men in 2016. Jo’s belief that we have far more in common than divides us, is something that I’ll be honoured to celebrate with this project.

I’ll be walking from Llanwrtyd Wells, taking in Carmarthen, Llanelli, Swansea, Neath, a moonlit walk to Merthyr and on through Caerphilly to Cardiff. Along the way I’ll be meeting and talking to community groups about their projects. I’ll be finding out what people are doing, but not necessarily shouting about, to strengthen their communities. And I’m SUPER EXCITED!

I know it’s going to be tough going as my knees are pretty weak and my hips aren’t great, but I’m taking a tennis ball to roll out my muscles along the way. Thanks to Caryn for the boots and to Pyklops for the bag of PROPER gear, I feel up to the challenge. Follow my progress, and the progress of the other walkers (heading to Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and London) on twitter #GreatBigWalk.

Maybe you can build up your own appetite for The Big Lunch – taking place all around the UK on 18th June, when all the walkers will be arriving home from our adventures…

https://www.edenprojectcommunities.com/the-great-big-walk

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Dydd Dylan…

To celebrate the life, work & legacy of Dylan Thomas I organised a paint jam next to Cardiff Castle, on boards that had been put up to protect the trees from UEFA happenings…

Unity – Lyrics by Dylan Thomas

Cardiff Council very generously paid for our paint – a Welsh flag colour theme seemed appropriate, and I asked wordsmith Rufus Mufasa (Dope Biscuits) to pick out some Dylan lyrics. To link the theme to today’s living, breathing poetry, DJ Alchemy (The Hold Up/Applied Science) kindly helped me pick out some lyrics by our homegrown rappers.

Squid – Lyrics by Ral Duke

Tao – Lyrics by Joe Dirt

Thank you to Over, Dan1, Plus, Tao, Sega, Squid and Mr Draws for the love. Graffiti and Hip-Hop is strong in Cardiff, and we are giving a nod to Dylan Thomas as well as recognising the important contribution of rappers to Welsh culture.

Over & Dan

Plus – Lyrics by Rufus Mufasa

P.O.S.

Sega – Lyrics by Dylan Thomas

Unity – Lyrics by Bespoken

Unity – Lyrics by Lil Miss

Find out more about Literature Wales’ International Dylan Thomas Day here.

Mr Draws – Lyrics by Dylan Thomas

Plus

 

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I love Cardiff Council…

This morning I muscled my way in on a site meeting between Cardiff Coucil, Welsh Government and the contractor who looks after Callaghan Square.

In a nutshell, they’re happy with the first pieces by myself (unity), Resh and Oner, and will be building us a wall along the ‘West Side’…

The new wall will follow the line of lamp-posts along the edge of the square.

The structure will be metal, with (I believe) wood panels.

I’m hopeful that this will be completed before UEFA take over our city next month.

I can’t thank Matt and Haydn enough for all the support they’re giving to our community – on top of the Callaghan Square project they’re also looking into other possibilities for legal spots around the city, so watch this space!

Old School Writers Resh and Oner were the first to get busy on Callaghan Square… (photo by Richard Williams)

Join the Callaghan Square Graffiti Hall Of Fame facebook page here

Wales Online article here

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No News = Good News?

I don’t have much to report on the Millenium Walkway Graffiti Hall of Fame, other than I’m hard on the case of the Council Officers who have promised to provide us with a suitable alternative before the advertising goes up. They are working to come up with an interim between the walkway and a new permanent spot where we will build a wall. I have suggested a few options and Matt Wakelham is working at getting permissions – he’s speaking to relevant people for Charles Street, Custom House Street and John St (where No Fit State was).

I’m keen on the Custom House Street/ John Street options, as they are close to Callaghan Square.

This area – shiny, polished and pristine – is not really used other than as a walk-through, and I believe, by skaters. We will be arranging to have the concrete structure on Callaghan Square painted next month, and hopefully will eventually be able to get an agreement for using this area for our new wall. If not I’ve suggested Bute Park as an alternative so watch this space…

In the meantime, I haven’t been able to prise a date out of anyone for when the adverts are going up, but true to Cardiff Council’s promise, this memorial piece has been delivered to Brave Toaster’s family. If anyone has any ideas of where we could put it up again please let us know.

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Whistle-stop tour…

A lovely man called Paul, who spends his days in Cardiff City Centre on a little buggy, ferrying less mobile folks to and from the shops, sorting out the bollards and such like, gave me a tour of the city this morning.

The aim was to find suitable locations for a temporary wall in place of the Millennium Walkway, while we sort out a permanent, purpose built wall. My requirements are that it is well-lit, with high footfall, pedestrianised, and BIG. These are the two options I’ve given to Matt at the Council:

Charles Street – it’s off Queen Street and away from the road. There are no shop windows and lots of bare wall. It’s fairly peaceful and can be seen from the main shopping area.

Old Custom House Building on Custom House Street. It’s a listed building so we couldn’t paint it directly but we could put up boards all the way around. There is already hoarding a bit further along, which could also be used, and two railway underpasses at either end.

If anyone has any other suitable locations please let me know.

Shout out Dan Green who joined us on our whistle-stop tour.

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Building a wall…

It all comes down to money.

The Millennium Walkway costs £55,000 per year to maintain. Advertising on the Walkway will bring in £100,000 per year. We, as artists CANNOT compete with that!

Advertisers don’t want their shiny corporate image tainted with being associated with graffiti… let’s not take that too personally. We can’t share the space with them. BUT, we can share in some of the money that they’ll bring in to our beautiful city.

I’m pleased to say that Matt, Cath and Elaine from Cardiff Council, get it. They understand what we want for Cardiff – for it to be a place where everyone, no matter their financial or housing situation, their demographic or cultural background – everyone has a right to the spaces in this city.

We discussed the need for places where people can come together to paint, to gather socially and have real ownership of these spaces. The council have agreed to build us a new wall, somewhere safe, well-lit and central to Cardiff. They have also agreed to put a section on licence forms for building contractors, to legitimise painting on their temporary hoarding. They will also be securing permission for us to legally paint at skate parks and possibly building walls in these locations for us to paint.

On Monday I’ll be arranging to meet with Paul from Cardiff Council, to walk around the city centre and identify areas where we can paint legally. If not on walls, then on hoarding that the Council will put up for us. If anybody wants to join us on that walk around, or has ideas for suitable locations, please do let me know.

So although we didn’t ‘save’ our wall, we’ll be building a new one, and will transform Cardiff in the process. Thank you everyone who signed the petition – this is your city. I’ll keep the petition page open so I can keep you informed as things progress, because we now need to make sure these promises are kept.

Thank you also to Councillors Sarah Merry and Chris Weaver, Dan Wilson (Grassroots) and Oner Signs.

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Knitting and Graffiti… Good for our mental health.

In 2015 I was asked by RSPB’s Phil Burkard to paint a mural as part of a partnership bid with Cardiff Council to transform the Millenium Walkway into a shared space with public artwork and spaces filled with wild flowers. The bid to Kew Gardens was unsuccessful, but I have continued to work hard to transform the area anyway, into a space which is filled with public artwork, and used for community events.

Community has always been important to me and I am active in my local area, leading and supporting projects and activities to encourage inclusion and interaction. I love bringing people together – for an international Bboy event, a Graffiti jam, for a small community meeting or a knitting group. Knitting and Graffiti may not appear to have anything in common but our ‘Pins & Needles’ group in Tongwynlais has the same collaborative way of working as a paint jam where graffiti artists come together. The creative things we do together are important to our mental health and wellbeing, and the wellbeing of society. Some people are more fragile than others, and we support one another to learn and grow through creating.

Past & Unity, 2017. Photo: Benjamin Jenkins

Graffiti is an art-form that isn’t widely understood, and although Banksy has been instrumental in bringing street-art into the public consciousness, he is not a graffiti artist. Graffiti is about lettering – putting your name on the wall so that people can no longer ignore you, your culture and your way of life. A way of life that doesn’t necessarily fit into the clean, consumer lifestyle that we are encouraged to buy into yet can rarely afford.

I set up a petition out of frustration at the lack of inclusion from Cardiff Council in discussions that are happening about selling off the Walkway for advertising. We had spoken about possibilities for utilising graffiti artist’s skills, like we did for the Rugby World Cup where each artist did a piece in the flag colours of one of the teams, but these discussions have come to nothing. Thank you so much to everyone who has signed the petition, and for all the wonderful, diverse and heartfelt comments that you’ve made.

I’m pleased to say that I’ve been invited to a meeting with the Council on Friday afternoon – I’m taking Keiron from Oner Signs, Dan from Grassroots and Councillor Sarah Merry to back me up. I’ll let you know how it goes…

SIGN THE PETITION

Cardiffian article about the petition here
Tongwynlais.com article here

Video of 2016 International Women’s Day paint jam here

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we not in new York

In 2016 I heard that Brecon was holding a women’s festival. Having been involved in a number of events for International Women’s Day I contacted them to see if I could paint for it. I was too late but the organisers kindly included me in the programme for 2017.

I spent a day in Brecon speaking to people about it, trying to find a suitable wall, and permission to paint it. I came away with a couple of options and followed it up with National Parks, whom I didn’t realise have so much control over what the town looks like.

Speaking to business owners, the Town Clerk and members of the Chamber of Trade, it was clear that there is a lot of concern about derelict buildings and empty shops. My final choice was to paint a boarded up building on the High Street.

As soon as I started putting on the base coat emulsion people started thanking me for improving the appearance of the shop. PLAN Brecon posted some images of my work in progress on Facebook, sparking a discussion which I followed with fascination. One of the first comments ‘Don’t need this type of art it sends out the wrong signals we not in new York’ initially made me chuckle, but on reflection I think this insight was actually quite astute.

I learned my art-form by painting on legal walls with friends. In Hip-Hop culture, we have an ‘each one teach one’ ethos. Graffiti is a community-led form of alternative education which grew from the political situation in 1960’s New York. Extremely poor areas of the city had been left isolated and deprived, and young people in those areas instigated what has been referred to as one of the most important art movements in recent years. The authorities, rather than addressing the social problems at the time, blamed graffiti – a visible, easily identified target. The media portrayal from this time is what has shaped our understanding of the art-form right up to this day.

When I was growing up, Brecon was a thriving town, and like many it has suffered from online shopping, large retail outlets and chain shops sucking money away from independent ‘High Street’ businesses. I’m pleased to say that my mural has sparked some positive exchanges online, which I hope will lead to real projects and more people working together.

Change must come from grassroots level, and can only happen if people are able to work together, putting aside their differences. Street art is not permanent – that’s the point – it’s part of an evolving landscape. A landscape which now needs to adapt quickly to thrive. The internet has brought shopping into all of our homes, and we may need to re-think what a Town Centre could become, before it becomes isolated and deprived – like parts of 1960’s New York.

Further reading: Taking The Train – How Graffiti Art became an urban crisis in New York City, by Joe Austin.

Read the discussion on PLAN Brecon’s facebook page here.

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Not an Isolated Incident

February 14th – Valentines day – the day of love. But what if the one you love doesn’t treat you well? Emotionally and/or physically abuses you… What then?

Dinah Vagina’s ‘Not an isolated incident’ is a moving display of 118 ceramic figures, each with the name and age of a woman killed in the UK in 2016. These women were killed by men – mostly men that they loved.

The World Health Organisation state that of women murdered around the world, 50% are killed by their partner (in comparison 2% of men are killed by a partner).

On Valentines day 2017, while Dinah’s ceramic figures were on display outside the castle, myself, Zamzam, Tao and Zilch painted around the corner. I put up 118 names and ages of the women killed by men in 2016. It was an emotionally draining piece, but that’s why I invited other artists to support me. Thank you Zilch and Zamzam for your female energy and paint skills. Thank you also to the guys that came and showed their love – Joe, who documented our day; Tao, one of my rock-solid paint partners and Haydn, who rollered the wall like a pro!

If you’re violent towards your partner, and would like help to stop – call ‘Respect’ 08088024040 or email info@respectphoneline.org.uk

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Nature… I Love it!

Yes I do. And it keeps me sane – a walk in the woods or a cycle along the river to start or end the day, makes sure I don’t get ‘growly’.

Hope Tree (Green)

I spent a day last week in the woods, in the company of other creative folk, doing what we do (photographing, filming, painting, posing, creating) and just being in each others company, in nature. I came away inspired, and thrilled – feeling the magic with other creative people somehow made it even more special. It came up in conversation at the end of the day though, that nature words have been removed from the dictionary – including ACORN. What. The. Fuck? Acorn? really? I asked my good friend google, and it’s not the full dictionary, but the Oxford Junior Dictionary – the one for little kids, who will be picking up an acorn and saying to the grown ups ‘what’s this?’. If these words are taken out of the junior dictionary now, who’s to say they won’t be taken out of the hefty grown up’s dictionary in the future?

Apparently the decision is taken by how often words are used – but I believe that the ‘use’ is from some kinda google algorithm, which I assume will be online or print use. It’s these kind of words which are used in conversation, not necessarily in written language, which will be lost over time. This makes me sad, and angry, and confused, and disappointed and tired.

I’m working on some artwork about it, but in the meantime here’s a piece I wrote with my lovely husband Owen Thomas, about nature. It’s in print form in my colouring book – I have couple left here if you fancy one to pass on to the little folk…

 

Nature defines us. What we are. Who we are

 

We live it.

We eat it.

We breathe it.

 

Without nature, we are nothing.

 

Being creative is nature’s way of working itself through us, helping to put our thoughts and dreams into the world. It is the same silent energy that moves along the stem and into the colour of petals.

Music, art, poetry and dance are all essential elements of a hip-hop culture in a modern world.

Because, yes; we live in a modern world, but we are not so far removed from our ancestors. Why is it that we enjoy getting ‘back to nature’? Our love of simple things; hanging out in the park, camping, walking through the woods with friends? It reminds us of what we are, where we came from, and, more importantly, it re-energises us, reinvigorates the soul. We drink in our surroundings and connect with living things. We close our eyes and remember that we are but part of a bigger picture.

Listen to the birds of the air, putting their own creativity into the world, in the same way that we do when we paint, we rap, we dance or make music. They are expressing their own true and instinctive selves. Nature is how we do this. Our connection with nature is our key link to our innermost self.

Embrace it, live it, enjoy what it offers, but remember that one day, at the end of it all, when the last grain of sand drops away from what made us, us, we, every one of us, will go back, back to nature.

And our essence, what made us who we were, what made us unique as individuals, will run like the colours on a palette board, back into the nature that created us, that sustained us, that united us.

We owe nature all, and must use our talents in whatever form they manifest to show our respect.

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