After a long winter I finally dusted off the old Raleigh racer a few weeks ago and set out on my first cycle of the year. If covid has done one good thing its that we're looking at what's on our doorsteps instead of constantly chasing the insta fodder with trips to 'exciting' new places.
Over the last month I've covered about 50 miles all roughly with in the city limits and I've been amazed by how much interesting buildings and locations I could find. I get a kick out of finding a new street or lane that I haven't been down before and its a nice reminder that you have to explore whether its a new city in a new country or on your own doorstep. I've also been trying to find interesting places to paint where the environment can have an influence on the work created. So an old farm steading seemed like the perfect place for a giant cow skull while the old walled garden tower provided some shape inspiration for another piece. I tend to take a lot of photos on my phone as well so I can remember specific details of a location for doing some pieces in the future or simply to have as a visual diary for each adventure.
Seeing how active some of the graffiti artists like Reckless & Skeps have been I wanted to try and find some of their more 'off piste' artworks. The site in question has been derelict for a number of years but feels quite alive with the amount of pieces now being created. The latest addition of Kendrick Lamar and Method Man along with the uncovering of more walls means the space is becoming its own unsolicited gallery but take care if you're visiting, the nettles and thorns are a killer on bare legs!
Hopefully i'll be getting out and getting up a bit more in the coming months so expect a few more of these short photo filled up dates. I want to explore and expand abit more on my own artwork and explain some of the ideas behind what I do. Til then its back to the work grind and the Monday blues. Although this Monday I had a 12 mile cycle to find an ancient stone circle on the outskirts of Aberdeen so it wasn't so bad. More about that next time.
