IDENTICONS Urban Art Merchandising

Hmm... where do I begin? Drawing is something that I've always loved really, and I guess it all started from there. I remember as a kid I used to stay in my room for hours just drawing; designing my own Sci-Fi ships and cars or just copying panels and characters out of comic books. My dad used to think I was a little strange - especially when I wanted to go to art school, but that's another story! Yes, I used to hang out with friends and play out, but I just enjoyed a lot of time by myself just being creative. In my mid teens, my art teacher Mr Cox introduced me to calligraphy, and I guess my love of letterforms began there, so I began copying out old illuminated manuscripts (one large ambitious piece took me 2 months to complete and I used it for an art exam. Everyone at school was blown away by it, my dad however, didn't even consider it to be art, but there you go). Fast forward 2 or 3 years and I'm being blown away by images or spray-painted pieces on the sides of trains and walls. Maybe subconsciously I was making a link between illuminated manuscripts on ancient pages to illuminated panels on modern trains, who knows. I became instantly hooked, and the rest, is living history... So nowadays, I try and help kids and other young people with a creative streak by running aerosol mural workshops and community art projects. It's rewarding, fun and challenging, all at the same time. I balance that with doing more commercial work such as exhibitions, graphics and logo design and painting the interiors of people's homes. I think the coolest thing I've done to date though is paint a mural live at STAR WARS: CELEBRATION EUROPE in 2007. Especially with me being a Star Wars geek! :-)