colour my world

Last weekend saw Newcastle host the Hit the Bricks Street Art Festival which has brought colour and joy to Newcastle streets. Local and national street artists converged on the city and have brought long-term joy and colour. I'm delighted to see the streets come to life, there's far too much emphasis on beige in this city for my liking. I love to see art spreading from the galleries and museums into the streets - and I'm glad that so many business owners embraced it by offering up their walls as canvases.

On Sunday my gal and I went on a walking tour, organised by Renew Newcastle, where we checked out some of the amazing pieces on display.
Artists such as Askew, Adnate, Shida, Numbskull, Fintan Magee, Sofles, Grizzle, Mike Watt, Umpell, Shuda, Bafcat, Beastman, Phibs, Jumbo and Mike Maka were joined by many others and boy, have they created something fabulous.

It rained pretty heavily on the first two days, but the artists carried on. In fact, some incorporated the running paint into their work, to great effect. Isn't this whale a beauty!

This was my gal's fave - and one of mine too. Isn't she just glorious?

We got to see artists in action, and some of them even stopped to have a chat with the 25+ strong group on the walking tour to tell us about their art, their inspiration and the festival.

While some artists used ladders, others required more serious equipment to complete their pieces. I love the colours and the scale in this piece. It makes a boring old car park POP!

After the walking tour I went home and grabbed my bike so I could pootle out and check out the rest. On my travels I saw an historical piece of street art! It's nice to see that things work in swings and roundabouts. Everything old is new again.

This piece is utterly breathtaking. I've rarely seen a more powerful portrait. Seriously, this is the kind of work you'd expect to see win the Archibald Prize - the eyes tell so many stories. This glorious boy gazes up the Hunter River and overseas the area with majesty.

What a gift to the city.

For more info, go to the LookHear website. And next time you're out, see if you can find these pieces. There are also plenty of secret sites, such as laneways, that were off the map. Searching the hashtag #HitTheBricks or #HTBfestival will find more images on Instagram.

Thanks for sharing your work with us guys, we really appreciate it.