Last year I was wandering down North Street in Bristol, the street on which I live, looking at all the amazing street art and graffiti that makes up Upfest (Urban Paint Festival). This takes place every year and loads of street artists from all over the world descend on my street to paint every available wall space, hoarding etc with beautiful, sometimes humourous street art. I carried on down to Ashton Gate football stadium (home to Bristol City) and then came across this wonderful street art hand painted by @envol.studio. Have a look at the original on Instagram. With his permission I have used part of it in my own composition and will tag him into my Instagram feeds. This work is called ‘Always Looking Down’ because it seems a sad indictment of today’s society that we all spend our time looking down on our smart phones and miss the beauty that surrounds us, in this case that fabulous hand. I try and paint my women doing something that relates to the street art so the dynamic of the 2d painting is changed by the presence of the 3D woman, bringing art to life and vice versa. If you would…
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This is a small piece, 12 x 10”, 30 x 25 cm, and I painted it alongside a larger work (I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing) but with a different pose. I used the same model, but in this work, she either hasn’t seen or has ignored, the street art waiter serving his Molotov Cocktails. In the larger work (see previous blogs for details) the blonde was toasting the waiter. In both paintings she prefers Coca Cola to Molotov. I was inspired by the street artist @brknwrld for this painting. I always obtain the permission of the street artist before I incorporate their work into the background of my own composition, and then tag him or her into my Instagram page so as to bring them added publicity. I am interested in preserving street art, but place my 3D woman in such a way that it relates to the 2D street art but also changes the dynamic of it and vice versa. If that makes any sense.. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the next few weeks please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of…
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This is a small study based on the original ‘Global Warming’ painting and is in black and white with a slight touch of red on the aerosol. Please see previous blogs to explain my thoughts on this theme. My apologies for short blog this week. My partner has terminal aggressive cancer and I just am not able to write much today. Hopefully next week will be better. This piece will be available through Great White Art gallery as of next week, http://greatwhiteart.com. It is 12 x 10” and is oil on board. It will have a black frame. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the next few weeks please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the Home page. I am also on Twitter and Instagram and have a Facebook page called Miche Artist.
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My inspiration for this work comes from @fanakapan and @nunovviegas, two incredibly talented street artists. I saw this piece and had the germ of an idea for a global warming painting. Aerosols are apparently so bad for the environment but without them we wouldn’t have the wonderful street art in our cities and how would we women keep our hair in place? Slightly tongue in cheek work this artwork. I know I would miss hugely the street art and graffiti in my home town Bristol. Upfest (urban paint festival) takes place each year on North Street where I live. Street Artists from all over the world descend on my street and cover every available hoarding, wall, boards etc,. with amazing art. I know that street art by its nature is ephemeral as it gets painted over regularly and this is why I incorporate it into my own work. I want to preserve this beautiful street art and by featuring my trademark woman somewhere in the composition, I am producing my own vision. The 3D woman changes the 2D street art dynamic, bringing life to the street art and vice versa. If you would like to be kept up to…
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I was browsing through Instagram and came across the stunning collaboration of @fanakapan and @nunovviegas. I got in touch with both street artists to ask their permission to use one of their works in my own composition. Once they both realised I was not directly copying their work but was using it as a background to a narrative composition they were both completely fine and thanked me for asking them. I would imagine quite a few people copy them without asking. I am deeply interested in preserving street art which by its nature is ephemeral and gets painted over. My own take though, is to change the dynamic of the street art by placing my trademark woman somewhere in the vicinity doing something which relates to that street art. So a 3dimensional woman brings life to a 2dimensional street art and vice versa. This woman will be standing spraying her hair with an aerosol can of hair spray as she walks past the huge hand squeezing an aerosol can of paint. I have to think of a title now. Ideas welcome please. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up…
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This piece is 20x 16” (50 x 40cm) and is oil on board. I am also in the process of painting a smaller piece in similar vein. Same background but the blonde is walking away, swigging from her Coke bottle. More of that later, hopefully. I have been painting on deep canvasses recently which do not need framing, but sometimes a white modern tray frame can really add to an artwork, hence these new paintings on board. I have a great local framer and he and I are coming up with some great ideas. This piece is inspired by the Street art of @brknwrld who I came across on Instagram. His work is eye catching and thought provoking and I have his permission to use this one street art as a background to my trademark woman. I liked the idea of the Molotov cocktails being served up by a masked waiter. My cool blonde is raising her Coke to him, almost high fiveing him. Why not? The thinking behind my art at the moment is that the 3 dimensional woman changes the dynamics of the 2 dimensional street art on the wall, bringing art to life and vice…
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I came across the work of @brknwrld on Instagram and was drawn to one particular piece called Enjoy Your Cocktails. I felt I could make something good involving it and have the artist’s permission to use it. The red version I saw and liked seems to have been a mock up on canvas for the final stencil on a door in Grenoble, I think. Brkn/wrld describes himself as an Artist of Chaos and it’s worth a look at his Instagram page. A very clever and inventive artist. My take as always, is to add in my trademark woman to make a completely different composition. By placing a 3 dimensional figure in the vicinity of the 2 dimensional street art, the work of art is changed significantly. The art is brought to life and vice versa. So the waiter is offering his tray of Molotov Coca Cola Cocktails, and my young blonde is almost high fiving him with her Diet Free Coke, or maybe just wants to put her bottle on his tray. Who knows? I am loving painting in this style. Living on North Street in Bristol I am privileged to see extraordinary Street art every year on my street,…
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This work was a commissioned piece by a very dear friend of mine who has an aggressive ongoing illness. I am not sure what will happen to this work, but I don’t think I could bear to sell it. Maybe it will stand alone as an artwork showing what I am about with my art. I have the permission of the street artist Kobra to paint this work based on a wonderful colourful piece of his street art painted here in Bedminster where I live. My apologies for a short blog this week. I am very sad just now. Please read the last blog for more info on this work. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the next few weeks please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the Home page. I am also on Twitter, Instagram and have a Facebook page called Miche Artist as well as my usual Facebook page.
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This is the start of a private commission for someone very dear to my heart who has a desperately serious illness. The original street art painting of this wonderful image is on the wall of a supermarket near me on North Street in Bristol, UK. I watched the artist @kobra painting this in bright vivid colours last summer. It is massive and very beautiful and I am beyond sad to think it will be painted over next summer. Such is the nature of street art, it is ephemeral. Upfest is held every year on my street (urban paint festival) and although I absolutely love seeing the works being created, I hate seeing these wonderful pieces being painted over eventually. I have sought and received Kobra’s permission to paint my black and white version of John Lennon. I have reassured him it is a private commission and I will not be printing posters etc from the finished painting. I am enjoying the change painting in black and white. Normally I never use black, preferring to mix ultramarine and burnt sienna to get different tones of black. For this work however, I am using only Lamp Black and Zinc White from which…
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This is a smaller piece, 35 x 25 cm (13 x 9”) and is oil on Ampersand board, unframed as yet. I had painted the larger piece, Tongue In Cheek, on deep canvas and then decided I would like to feature the second part of the amazing Krishna Malla’s street art (@krishnamalla) in another composition; it seemed such a waste to not incorporate the other half into a painting. This time however, I am using Ampersand board, which I like to use for my smaller works. It gives a lovely smooth finish which helps with the more detailed work needed in a small painting. I feel I have found my niche with using street art in my figurative paintings ….Miche’s Niche haha. Living on North Street in Bristol I always have an endless supply of wonderful graffiti and street art being supplied for Upfest, the urban paint festival held here each year, and I am anxious to preserve these before they get painted over the following year. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the next few weeks please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the…
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