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GRAFFITI LESSONS ALL IN A GOOD CAUSE
FRENCH ARTIST SHOWS YOUNGSTERS HOW TO BRIGHTEN UP STREETS
In what might be seen as an unusual move,a french artist has been teaching youngsters in the merkinch area of inverness how to draw graffiti.
It is not the crude paint-spray daubing on random walls that so angers some people however,but a more upmarket version as a method of brightening up the streets.
The teenagers have come up with a brightly-coloured eye-catching design which has been painted on the wall which encloses nicol s gap site on Grant Street.
The bold painting spells out the word Scotland and also includes a Scottish flag and a thistle.Marc Delaye,37 who is originally from Avignon in the sout of france,held several workshops before completing the mural itself which involved around eight youngsters from mp33 the local youth drop-in entre.
Mr Delaye said:'I think the youngsters got a lot of enjoyement out of the project'
'We've had a lot of good feedback.In fact one woman stopped her car to get out and have a look'
Anne Sutherland of the merkinch partnership community group said:'An important element of the project is that it involves the artist working with local young people.
'The boys worked very hard in the preliminary workshop sessions and on the wall itself and in that respect the project has been a great succes'.
'There has been very positive feedback from the local community on the design and the colours used on the wall,which has certainly brightened up the area of Grant Street'.
The group will now be working on a similar project at Thornbush road which will have a jungle theme.An other mural was completed at Glendoe Terrace last year.
PUTTING COLOUR INTO THE CARSE
KIDS GET BUSY WITH ART PROJECT
Residents on an Inverness housing estate blighted by vandalism will soon open their doors in the morning and think they have landed on Bondi beach.
For a french artist and local school children have transformed the gable end of a business premises ravaged by graffiti on the carse industrial estate into an image of an exotic paradise complete with swayingpalm trees and muscle-bound surfers.
'There s been a lot of negative publicity about this area recently so it s nice to see something positive happening and it s great to see so many children involved,'declared Glendoe Terrace residents association chairman Dawn Beaton.
'The painting will certainly cheer me up when i open my door in the morning and i am sure it will give many residents something to brighten up their day after the dreary summer we have had to endure so far'
The scheme to cover up the unsightly graffiti at the premises of Begetube uk,an underfloor heating company,was a joint venture prompted by the local community warden,councillor Peter Corbett and merkinch partnership officer Anne Sutherland.
'We were lucky to be put in touch with french artistMarc Delaye who lives locally and he has been fantastic throughout the duration of the project.'Dawn explained.
'He met with the youngters and discussed some ideas and this is what he came up with.We moved towards this idea of a happy tropical beach scene which will certainly brighten up people s life.
'Marc has drawn the fine detail and we have 11 local children between the ages of 12 and 16 who are filling in the colours.
'He s been very enthusiastic talking things through with the children and they have really enjoyed working on the project and obviously when it s finished they wil be very proud of what they have achieved.
'A couple of yobs did pass and said it would not last long,but we certainly hope it will.
'it s a lovely mural which has transformed an area which was covered with disgusting graffiti and obscene language.
Ms Sutherland said the interaction between Marc and the kids was' fantastic'
'The children have got a lot out of experience and it will certainly make a difference to the lives of residents inGlendoe Terrace',she stated.
BUGS BRING A TOUCH OF PRIMARY COLOURS
Giant beasties have been found crawling around granton primary school, but there is no need to call rentokil- the bugs are the creation of inverness graffiti artist and the youngsters of the town.
Marc Delaye and a group of 11 to 15 year olds have been giving a colourful new lease of life to a ramshakle shed in the grounds of the primary school, which was formerly a classroom.
The four sides of the building have been covered in images of gigantic, brightly coloured bugs surrounded by exotic plants and grasses of all different, shapes and colours.
Funding for the project which was completed on thursday after several days of hard work, has come fro m the highland council, and childrens servic e s workers from grantown and aviemore were involved in bringing the project to life.
Head teacher at the school, Mairi Robertson, is delighted with the result."the shed was a classroom many years ago, and has been an eyesore for a long time"she said. "the children will all be delighted when they come back from their summer break next month and see the transformation."we are really grateful to allthe youngsters who have been involved in creating these wonderful beasties. i must admit when i walk past the mural it helps put a smile on my face-it just has that sort of effect. i just hope it does the same for everyone else.
School neighbours george and mabel paton have also been admiring the new artwork dreamed up by spray can artist delaye and the local yougsters.
"it is really colourful and a great improvement on what was there",mr paton said from their house which overlooks the shed.
Jane Wilson,children services worker for grantown,said that the project had caught the imagination of the youngsters."they have been so focused and hard working...
CLUB DRAWS ON MOVIE MAGIC
A movie premiere with a difference took place in inverness on saturday.members of a kids movie club unveiled their own massive drawings and paintings of animation and film charaters inspired by the movie lilo and stitch, clockwatchers, powerpuff girls and asterix and obelix: mission cleopatra.
The kids movie club, which runs most aturdays at inverness cathedral old boys school building through edan court theatre, allows 7 to 12 year olds the chance to enjoy a film then take part in a themed creative activity.
in recent sessions, the children have been learning from french graffiti artist marc delaye.
they will soon also be learning how to create 3D characters
MURAL MARKS COMMUNITY CENTRE S 25TH ANNIVERSARY
Young artists have left their mark with aerosol cans on the walls at merkinch community center,but they have not being regarded as vandals.
The yougsters, aged between 13 and 16, have created a mural under the supervision of french artist marc delaye as part of a series of events to mark rhe centre's 25th anniversary. their work of art, developed over several days, represents mekrinch and its people in the 21st century but also features details of the ferry, a reference to the area's nickname which originated from the boat which used to cross the firth.Iivor Soutor, the centre's manager, said it replaced a mural created about three years agowhich was beginning to fade. he did not think it would encourage them to daub graffiti elsewhere.
"Hopefully, it will have the opposite effect" he said."the trick is involving the youngters so they will llook after this and take pride in what they have done. the last one lasted without being destroyed. it is all about civc pride"
Mr Delaye has recently settled in inverness, having moved from avignon in the south west of france, and has run street art classes for youngsters at art.tm in inverness.
ART SKILLS FOSTERED AT INVERNESS
A contempory french artist visiting the highlands took time to host a class for budding young artist in inverness at the week end.
Marc Delaye from Avignon in the south of france,took the two day class,art tm,on showing the yougsters how to develop callygraphy skills,and they printed t shirts at the end of the session.
mr Delaye,who drew on his experience as a spray can and digital artist,said "what the class is really aboutis helping to develop different kind of word and letter forms".william palmer, who attended the class,said"it was brilliant,because i haven t really done this kind of art before.i m very much into art and because i m taking a standard grade in it at school,the class as been a big help to me...
