Shadow(y) Art

In the letterbox at the office I found the latest edition of Ponsonby News, a monthly magazine. Inside the front cover was a small piece about a recent event organised by the K Road Business Association. They identified 14 street artists, whose work is regarded favourably, and then negotiated with owners of buildings on or near K Road to make a wall available for the production of a mural.

The artists were then asked to produce a mural in three days, beginning on 01 May 2013. Unfortunately for the organisers (whose aim was to make this a spectator event), the heaviest rain of the year to date occurred on those days, and the process of completing the murals stretched over five days, and spectators were discouraged.

I had not been aware of this event, nor of the 13 murals which suddenly popped up (two artists worked on one mural). As this morning had been wet enough to discourage a run (allowing an extra hour in bed), I thought I would go looking for a new piece of street art. Only a few problems.

Firstly it had got to be dusk before I even got home from the day in the office, and the amount of natural light when I reached K Road was decreasing rapidly. Secondly, many of the murals I saw were so large that it would be hard to get more than a "detail" into a picture, without being so far back that the first problem of inadequate light kicked in. Thirdly a mural in St Kevin's Arcade where neither of the first two problems was relevant, had inconsistent artificial lighting and would clearly be better in daylight.

Leaving the arcade I saw an alleyway out into a car parking are behind K Road buildings. This had been painted on a wall at some previous time. It suits the low level of light, and I also like the lighting that is seen on the left edge of the image. The shadow effect in, and on, the painting pleases me. Especially large.