Urban Art Association

You're keeping yourself busy: the piece you did in Tufnell Park the other day has brightened up my bus route home from the office, so thanks for that. Keep heading north – one day street art will reach East Finchley...

Thanks for the comments Met. As you say there's nothing stopping me repainting this, it certainly is an option. But in reality I don't have the time or resources to keep redoing walls in London, which require a large amount of time, money and my energy to create. The piece for me lacks something that in this instance I wasn't achieving when painting, and this could be down to numerous things, but i pushed myself to at least create something passable in my opinion, so for that reason I am ok with the piece. I am critical and quite tough on myself creatively, as it is what i do, it's not a sideline or a hobby after work, this is 100% my life and in order for me to progress and develop as an artist, i need to critically look at the work i create and move onwards. If the piece had been a total disaster I would have painted it black and either started again the next day or just chalked this one up to experience....creating art can be a real struggle sometimes.....but that's all part of it....

with regards to the web address, that's a point I wasn't aware people picked up upon. Personally i don't feel it's a wrong to allow viewers of my work who don't know who i am or what i do to have a reference point to investigate other work that i create, i have a huge portfolio of work over the years, so it's good for people to perhaps see what else i have painted. Are you saying it takes something away from the 'street' nature of the work and puts it more in the realm of commercial work?

I actually disagree with that although of course it's your very valid opinion. I am an artist, i don't label myself as one particular fashionable type of artist, 'street artist' or 'graffiti artist' or 'fine artist' etc, this is restrictive and feels a little too much like jumping on a band wagon. Art for me is all i have done, all my life and my one passion, it's something i will always do, so for me creating artworks on the street is one aspect of my creativity. To say something doesn't fit the rules of a sub culture or movement of street art is strange as my art and the way i work doesn't adhere to any rules self imposed or otherwise... I need to make a living and earn money in order to continue what i do, that';s the basic facts of life. I feel it's a slightly romantic notion that the street art should be pure and not have any form of contact details etc, well in reality i need to earn money in order for me to create my work, and adding a credit as such to the work doesn't detract from my point of view from the work at all, that is a small and subtle credit, not huge banner! The works on the streets all have a person behind them, funding the materials, the time, and this gets so often overlooked, it's all well and good creating a free, ever changing gallery for city workers on their lunch breaks, but by having no web link or way for anyway to access your work and perhaps buy a print or painting, it's very easy t o just dismiss the art and becomes a free gallery at the artist great expense. All my work is created with pure passion for creating art, and with this in mind i love sharing my work with people and hopefully positively influence their day, but so saying i am a realist an live in the real world and art materials are very expensive!

He's right, it seriously detracts from the work and places it in the realm of corporate advertising. You don't need a www. before your name. Just sign it. There are far more rules, signifiers and pre conceived notions of what www. name.com stands for than just your name. When I see it, that's all I see, the work loses a great deal of its meaning and power with the addition of a web address.