Those that know me, know that I'm always up for a challenge and to test myself.
Mid last year I 'put my hand up' to take part in the Brisbane City Council - Artforce program and paint a traffic signal box! This great initiative by the BBC aims to celebrate local artists, beautify our city with artworks and (the practical bit) help reduce the amount of 'tagging' or de-facing of council property.
I said at the start - this was a challenge for me...
- Using Acyclic house paint ... not my normal oils
- Painting outdoors on a busy street ... not in my home studio
- Painting a 3D object ... not a flat canvas
- Designing an artwork for Rotary Carindale ... not my normal avos or rust ;-)
The BCC and Artforce were great. They supplied all materials, safety equipment and manuals and provided guided me on how to complete this task.
The traffic signal box I was allocated, was one of the few that was allocated to community organisations. I worked with Rotary Carindale to design a concept that highlighted Rotary's support of the community for over 20 years.
The concept was a wrapped gift box featuring a bow, tag and kite wrapping paper to represent the Rotary Carindale's long standing support of the Brisbane Kite Festival.
The first step was to clean and prime the signal box, then sketch in the design, this took about 6 hours.
Next was the painting...
As an oil painting artist, it really took my by surprise about the lack of blending or movement in the paint. Over the course of painting, I was challenged to adapt my painting techniques and style to take into account the wind and sun combined with house paints that dried quickly once in contact with the metal box.
The box which is located on Old Cleveland Rd (outside of the Carina Leagues Club) was completed over 6 weekends and over 35 hours.
What I learnt...
- Oils are my definitely my medium of choice. I like the movement and blendability
- That painting in public is not as scary as I thought
- That painting on 3D is more difficult than painting a 3D object
- That people are curious and complimentary to those volunteering in the community
- That there are so many cool opportunities to test ourselves, we just have to get out there and accept them.
If you would like to take part in this Volunteer program, visit the Artforce website to register your interest.