Have you seen the giant mural of Albert Einstein in Corrimal or the colourful wall painted with surgical instruments on Crown Street Wollongong and wondered who created them?
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Three years ago Anthony Jones, 28, was a sales representative for a beverage company and didn’t know he had a talent for paint.
Now he’s working as full time artist creating murals all over the Illawarra from children’s bedrooms to gymnasiums to popular shopping hubs.
“I never studied [fine arts],” he said.
“Honestly I think that’s been such a blessing really, because I haven't been tied down by what is formerly taught so I don’t have someone saying ‘this is the way art should be’.”
With spray cans in hand Jones, aka AyJay, bases himself at a studio in Port Kembla and describes his style as “vector art”.
“This vector style I sort of stumbled across with a mixture of graphic design that I learnt from TAFE, but all this stuff is self-taught it’s all Youtube tutorials and me just sitting there for hours on end trying to learn,” he said.
“It’s an illustration, or type of file rather, on a computer and it’s very plastic and you can’t touch it.
“But painting it on a wall … it’s something that usually sits inside a computer is brought to life for people to see.”
After much persuasion by his fans, AyJay has created a public exhibition of works all painted within seven days prior to its opening.
Images of famous characters and well loved locals will grace the walls of the Red Point Gallery in Port Kembla until February 14.
Raw Spirit, Red Point Gallery, 100 Wentworth Street, until February 14. www.urbanartaustralia.com.au