NICE UP THE WALLS round four tuff gong

TUFF GONG STUDIOS

THREE MILES

KINGSTON

                    As if i was going to leave Jamaica without painting Panthera Leo...

people have been asking for this since i have been on island...but i was saving it. We had met up with Lorna from Tuff Gong a week or so back to discuss what walls we could paint...they showed us a few and i said...ummmm...can i have that one up there please...another roof top...and a nice big one at that...probably gonna run out of paint but it will be seen from the main road so gotta be done...on telling Lorna i was painting a lion and with the Ethopian crown she went from a very chilaxed sisterin to a jumping screaming bean...so i guess she was happy about that...she asked when we wanted to paint and i said well would be cool to do it on Bobs Earthstrong....hang on Lorna, stop bouncing now...i think that twice i gave her the answers she wanted to hear...

SOOOOO 6th february started for us down at the Bob Marley museum, with lots of true rasta. Chanting to Nyabingi drums...o yeah and Sizzla was with us dancing away...then we made our way towards the Tuff Gong to paint...another beautiful sunny day in Jamaica...maybe a bit too much sun for my empress though, heat stroke is getting to her...and o my Jah Jahs way too many mozzies and just as the repellent ran out...so not cool...

Took two full days painting, largely due to heat though, its definitely slowing me down... plus trying to swack a mosquito half way up a ladder with my shorts falling off, pockets stuffed with tins and hands full...not an easy circus skill...

    
Had to drop back down to the wall a third time to put up the logos as we had forgotten the stencils the previous day...you know how they say things happen for reasons...well Craigy T from T.O.K happened to be visiting. He posed for some flicks, and told us how the guys had been considering setting up a visual arts school on island just like we are hoping to do...SHUT up Craigy, you fe real...so looks like a link up is gonna start with these guys...following on from that he said, im getting you some press coverage, two days later we back again being filmed for intense long side TVJ...nice up that...
here is a  link to the VIDEO broadcasting...
linda is always telling me "louis... law of attraction...u see mi..."...okay, okay... seen linda, seen...

Press Here to go to Lindas blog for more info on her painting at Tuff Gong....

Next stop is... 
ROUND FIVE...
Reading and writing learning centre, HELP...


ONE LOVE

Nice Up The Walls.... ROUND TWO

FRENCHMAN'S COVE TREASURE BEACH ST.ELIZABETH

ROUND TWO

MADAGASCAN LEMUR

Almost Three weeks on island. Two attempts to paint One madagascan lemur...im a fond believer that a problem is a mistake and a mistake is presented so that one can learn from it. My problem was, the person i asked permission for the use of the wall to paint my lemur, wasn't the owner of the wall...she leased the building. First thing in the morning after confirmation the night before, i started outlining and filling first coat of the lemur on a restaurant back wall... it faces the oncoming traffic to everyone entering frenchmans cove...a nice wall to nice up...

"what you doing..." 

"painting"

"have u got permission to do that"

"yes"

"no you don't...my father in law owns that wall and i know he wouldn't want you doing that"

.....oh shitttttt....

"owner of the restaurant say i can last night"

"well she don't own the wall, my father in law does., im gonna have to get him down here"

.....please dont be big and bad and ugly....

So after the owner came down, he did alot of cussing an fussing, refused to reason with me and order i paint it out...have to say i was pretty bumbed out...sympathetic towards his annoyance but vex he wouldn't talk it out...anyway en route home, an american woman form newyork popped out and said... "hey come and paint my wall instead..."

Thats me painting the americans shack above...resolution....lesson to be learnt for i an i, check person saying yes is the owner...

I remember reading an article about the lemurs in a metro newspaper last year, it stated Mister Richard Branson was planning on exporting an entire Madagascan Lemur colony to his own Caribbean island... to help save them from extinction...don't think it was granted, probably a good thing too...but i get to gloat that i got one over, and he didn't....hahaha...i have used the same african fabric pattern as the prairie dog on this piece and its in both the tail and the hands...

Owners of the building

When u see lindas peice next to mine both characters are holding the jamiacan kite...we wanted to give the painting a Jamaican reference and since the lemur is dancing it seemed to be pretty fitting... 

TO READ ALL ABOUT LINDAS PAINTING FOLLOW
HERE

Part of the journey, was to discover if any other street artists had been out to Jamaica to paint.  We did find a few, but these guys were the first we found and had wheat pasted the whole of the front side of a bar shack on the beach. The Everlasting Freshness Crew come from Australia and the artists is RONE...it would seem he's on a tour, hitting up miami, cuba and hawai...and by the looks of it we missed him by about a month... Frenchmans cove must think a sign is hanging above them pointing artists in their direction or something...anyway....

links here

Black river...named, because its bottom is of a black mud...on a sunny day the water is completely transparent clear but u wouldn't know cos the mud is so dark, so they say...it was a rainy day when we were there, so who knows...home to the most species of ferns in the world, and fresh water crocs...why...no one knows, perhaps they were dumped in the river by germans after the war, maybey they swam down from florida...our guide said there were over 100 around...we saw some biggins, but they very timid and there w alot of tourist boats checkin em out, so no wonder...above is some cool rasta looking roots dropping into the river, this is how the trees get their water...

More of the herd of 50 went up and this cru were keen to get a photo shoot underway...Blessup Treasure Beach...the ones that were on our side that is...

Round three... soon come...

Kingston...

Black Scorpio Records

ONE LOVE

Nice Up The Walls....street art...jamaica mi soon come....

NUW... Nice Up The Walls

From 12th January to 12th February 2012

JAMAICA WE SOON COME...AND WE "NICE UP THE WALLS"

Linda Zina Aslaksen                       Louis Masai Michel

have a look at our funding proposal 

CLICK here

To our knowledge, no international artists have visited Jamaica since the recent Hurricane to use street art as a means of bringing colour, life and aesthetic remedies to the community. This is the key objective that we wish to achieve with Nice Up The Walls. 

read more

These photos are a small collection from the photos that i took 5 years ago on my last trip to Jamaica...they are taken in the hills of Gayle, at a surf camp with billy mystic, Kingstons closest beach (i have forgotten its name) and a place i don't rate to highly, Negril...

YOU CAN JOIN THE "NICE UP THE WALLS" FACEBOOK PAGE 

TO STAY IN LINK WITH THE PROJECT 

CLICK HERE