Graffiti artist gets red-carpet treatment at Feast Marlborough
Graffiti artist Wiremu Blake, left, and Feast Marlborough committee member Liz Buttimore are preparing for the Gala Feast.
His graffiti talents were honed under the cover of darkness, now they're in the limelight.
Wiremu Blake is putting his spray cans to good use, after a run-in with the law in 2014, providing a 'feast' for the eyes at red-carpet event next month.
His freshly-painted banner, emblazoned with the word 'Feast', will be hung at the entranceway of Feast Marlborough's Gala Feast on May 10.
Blake was roped in by committee member Liz Buttimore, who said she had a dream of graffiti juxtaposed with flowers.
READ MORE:
* Rare Fare competition showcases Marlborough cuisine
* Artisan potters create unique bowls for Feast Marlborough
* Feast Marlborough returns as four-day food frenzy
* Work and Income and Corrections help offenders find employment
"I used to take the train out to Papatoetoe where there were vines all over the graffiti and I was thinking, 'this could be a backdrop for our red carpet'," Buttimore said.
Wiremu Blake swapped his spray cans for paintbrushes two years ago.
Blake responded to a call for talent on Facebook and spent three hours in a shed on Buttimore's rural Fairhall property to create the banner.
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm the only real graffiti artist in town," Blake said.
Buttimore tried to stay out of the design process, she said.
Blenheim rapper Image has released his first music video.
"The whole event is about not stifling the professionals and artists doing what they love."
But Blake and Buttimore chose the colours together, Blake said.
"The font, I had to think about. Most of the time what I do is more for the eyes of other graffiti artists. But this time it had to be a style that can be read by anyone."
Last year's inaugural Friday Night Feast was extremely popular.
Blake was pleased to get "back in the game", having traded his spray can for a paintbrush, working as a painter for the past two years, leaving his days of crime behind, he said.
"These days I'm more into painting microphones. I found a whole new love of art in music, and now my whole focus is that. I went from a spray can to a paintbrush to a microphone.
"But it's good getting the feel of the spray can again because if you stay out of the game long enough, you can start to lose your touch."
Arbour chef and co-owner Bradley Hornby has put many hours into the Gala Feast menu.
Buttimore said the Gala Feast was about "showing the diversity of Marlborough talent".
"We've got young gymnasts performing, Marlborough Girls' College students doing a static fashion show.
"We've got 220 plates made by the Marlborough Community Potters. Pizazz is performing, Sarah Brown and the Marlborough Chorus. As well as all our usual chef mates."
Marlborough Community Potters potter Kate O'Sullivan has helped to create bowls and plates for Feast Marlborough's Gala Feast.
The Gala Feast, at ASB Theatre Marlborough, would kick off the Feast Marlborough festival on May 10, followed by the Bayleys Friday Night Feast on May 11, and the Saint Clair Vineyard Half Marathon on May 12.
Blake, whose stage name is Image, planned to shoot clips for his second music video, Plan A is All You Need, at the Gala Feast, to be followed by clips of a night on the town, he said.
The event was black tie so Blake would be donning a suit himself, he said.
His first music video for The Statement, released on his Facebook page two weeks ago, featured central Blenheim and he wanted his next video to show another side of the town, he said.
Blake refused to move to a city to get his music career underway, like some people suggested, saying there was plenty of talent in Blenheim waiting for a scene to be established.
"Our town is so small, it's as if it changes you to think you just leave school, go to work, play rugby, go hunting or fishing, and that's it. Which is all cool, but there's more to life than just that," Blake said.
"We all have something we wanted, that we thought was too far-fetched. People even said to me, 'don't shoot your video here'. But I said, 'nah, stuff that' and now stuff is starting to happen for me.
"When you truly figure out what you want to do, the world will move around you, it just has a funny way of doing that, of moving for you or with you. You just have to figure out what you want first."
- The Marlborough Express
Comments