-What was your experience with VMF like? (challenges, surprises, memories):
It was a great experience. I made lots of friends, really enjoyed having the super talented (and delightful) Sarah Khan as a neighbour. Painting in public is actually fun. You meet interesting folks, there was a crew of homeless that always partied around the corner. They were easy to get along with once we got them to stop peeing on my wall….
-What did you learn about yourself?
I prefer going to the beach over standing in front of a white stucco wall when its thirty degrees out. If it wasn’t for my friend Benoits work ethic and guilting me into sticking around I’m not sure the wall would have been finished in time.
-Any rituals to get yourself amped up or in the zone while you work?
Always music. Classical in the morning, then hip hop or house or something weird as the day wears on. For mural painting I like to have my van with a little shelter and chairs and a cooler full of beer. Friends come by to help, although half of them just hinder….so its good to have a place for them to sit and heckle you.
-What's your go-to painting outfit?
Im the worst, I collect t-shirts and track suits and hats and usually wreck them with paint splotches within the first week. I should probably pay more attention to what I wear in the studio…
-What are some of your favourite pieces you've worked on since VMF?
I’m pretty excited about the series I did about my Grandfathers experience in residential school. “Escape From The White Witches-The Graduation of Eli”. Its some of my best work.
-Any advice to 2020 VMF artists?
Get a canopy and a cooler full of beer. Enlist friends. Hope for a wall that isn’t in the sun all day…
-Any other arts festivals you've painted for/attended?
Paintillio did a collaboration with me for Pride at the VAG. That was cool….those girls are great to work with.
I did the Nelson International Mural Festival this summer. It was awesome. I took Fred(my dog). For the first week we lived in an alley in my van like a homeless and then the organizers hooked me up a beautiful luxurious cabin in the woods. Its a great little town, I’d never been. Theres so many cool people, good restaurants. Plus we could walk down to the lake for swims multiple times each day….which was neccesary considering it was so hot my paint trays melted.
-Future goals/aspirations/sweet projects you want to be a part of?
Doing Houstons HUE Festival in 2021. Im currently designing a 10x60 foot wall for Mozart Park in Chicago. I’ll go down and do the outlines in the spring and their Youth Mural Group is going to do all the color work. Im pretty stoked.
-If you could get a piece on any surface in the world where would it be?
Geez, good question. Somewhere bland and depressing with great sight lines where the patron has a lot of money to pay me?
-Favourite local and international artist?
Local:
Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. His totally unique style, use of colour and attitude are a real inspiration.
Andy Dixon, before watching his meteoric rise to fame I didn’t know artists could make a living just painting. He just gets bigger and better.
Sandeep Johal, the hardest working artist in Vancouver. So talented, a real freedom fighter. Its great to see her taking over the world.
International:
Kara Walker. I saw a show at the New Orleans Museum of Art years ago and it really stuck with me. . Its amazing just how much she communicates with just silhouettes…
Richard Prince. He’s just the best. From the biker chicks and Marlboro Man stuff to his Nurse paintings. A true innovator. Maybe my all time favorite.
Theres so many more. Eric Fischl, Henry Darger, El Greco, Frederic Remington,Walt Disney….I could go on for days….