I actually managed to paint on a Friday without any rain, work, or other disruptions. I had plumbers in the morning but I got away on time and it happened! I went to the mountains on Sunday with some old school friends for a day trip out of Sydney and it was very windy and uncomfortable but the sun was out at least. I think I got a cold after spending time at work the next day in what we jokingly call the asylum. It is like a fridge, so I had two days of cold then I woke up with a mild cold. That is pretty good considering the flu and Covid which are hitting very high infection rates across the east coast of Australia. That cold was this morning and I felt fine after by the middle of the day. The rain is back for another week and for Sydney it was very cold. So much for mild winters, this one has an absolute icy blast to it. There is snow four to six hours south of Sydney and we get hit with the winds from the south.

It was funny that on Friday I used very tribal colours for my piece and had a European with a ruffled neckpiece and a veil over their face, at any rate, it doesn’t look like a veil but an obscured face. Another graffiti artist from Papua New Guinea mentioned the tribal undertone. We discussed Africa, Picasso, and how Africa is the birthplace of humanity, art, and culture that has always been denied by Europeans yet has proven to be the case through scientific research. I didn’t mean to get so conceptual on my wall but I had been thinking about Picasso and his appropriation of African cultures. I felt that Picasso needed Africa but was so lauded that he was far from humble about his appropriations. Picasso was brilliant though in many ways. A lot of creative people who have borrowed from other cultures will mention their influences in interviews.

Take a lot of rock bands who became more famous than the people who pioneered the style of music or art they used for their own ends, it is unfair but people in their own careers are only focused on their own efforts. Even the fact that I do aerosol art, I feel like there are so many influences from so many people and I can only do what I can do. Yet I haven’t hit some kind of mass influence that would mean I would only be further from the reality I initially developed in. I suppose you hear or see the new wave of work and even if it inspires you it could take you on a very circuitous journey.