Graffiti is a crazy vocation.
I’ve been painting now for more than 3/4 of my life. In the beginning it was built on enthusiasm and passion. It was accompanied by a high dose of juvenile mischievousness that is a touch more than shooting spitballs from the back of the classroom.
It’s another level of energy. Another vibration.
When you’re home drawing and learning the craft it’s a very meditative process. When you’re out on the street painting it’s a mix of adrenaline and electricity. The catch is, whilst that electricity can energize you to the nth degree it can just as equally electrocute you.
This stuff really is arts and crafts with a massive boost of steroids.
Over time and with age, like any craft, it becomes a big part of what you do. Whether it’s your focus or your escape, time in play changes the view. Like everything we do for long periods of our lives, you grow with it. You see it differently. Your life experiences with it change and everything you have learnt along the way feeds you very differently.
Whilst some of my processes have changed they are still very natural. Only now there is a level of chaos that’s happily missing. The spontaneous nature of sketching and then translating that on the street is the same but very different. I’m still consciously trying to develop and learn within the same space but I’m doing it at a much smoother bpm.
Painting now is still very much my craft and my escape all in one. At times it’s headphones on and in a groove. Other times it’s all senses alive and feeling alive! I’m happy to say I’ve found my zen.
In the third of our Find your ZEN Features (where we feature extraordinary people who have found their ZEN) we shine the spotlight on Sydney based Graff Artist ATOME who invited us out to Fairfield at 6AM to shoot him painting his final (of 11) piece in his “chalk and cheese” series.
An OG who’s been writing since the 80’s. ATOME is a true living legend and legit one of the most famous Australian Graffiti Writers of all time.
