November 2009: Shida in Berlin

Happy Mardi Gras, y'all! To celebrate this obese Tuesday, we're going down under to meet Shida, an Australian artist with a flare for spray can art. While he loves home in Byron Bay, he's traveled across the globe leaving a trail of characters in his wake. He writes:

”I was inspired to try street art after traveling around Europe with my family in 2005. At first, I was drawn to stencils but soon moved to more illustrative work.”
”In the past, I have always found graffiti a very social lifestyle. You can learn a lot from working with other people and be motivated to produce more art to compete with counterparts. Unfortunately, many of my friends have recently lost interest in art and I find it difficult to find people who share my ideas and level of motivation when it comes to graffiti. While going solo can sometimes be lonely, I feel a heightened connection to the city and enjoy the time to think.”
”I try to develop various styles that will work for different mediums. Creating my work comes naturally. What I usually try to do is paint things I thought were really cool as a child (and still do) like crazy animals, Pokemon, knights and that type of fantasy stuff.”
”I often imagine places to paint that are relaxed and highly visible: where you can have a conversation with passers-by, where you can have a spliff, a beer, and generally have a good time. However, in my city this is completely impossible. I dream of a brighter more liberal future.”
”I’m the craziest thing that happens while I’m out painting. Seriously, I’m a mad man.”

”I’m currently working on large scale posters and trying to make more cash from my art so that I can travel again as soon as possible.”

Thanks, Shida! For more photos, take a peek at his Flickr.