With no formal training and no background in art, Angus hit the ground running with his tongue in cheek style. Angus takes his inspiration from the people in his life, current affairs, iconic figures and the creative backdrop of the Bristol Art scene to help him create his unique works. Here, we spend a day in the life of Angus, from his morning coffee to walking the galleries of Bristol.
MY ALARM GOES OFF…
My alarm goes off at 6:30am Monday – Friday, and the first thing I have to do is make a large cup of coffee and watch the news for about half an hour.
'Self-isolating at the docks in Bristol' - Angus
HOW I STARTED LIFE AS AN ARTIST…
I started as an artist by accident really. At school we were only taught about classical art and it didn’t really float my boat whatsoever and I lost interest in art as soon as I left school. A few years later I stumbled across Upfest Street Art Festival taking place in my home city of Bristol and it blew my mind that artists from all over the world descended on my home city and were painting on the sides of buildings and trains in lots of different styles that I had never seen before. So next year I applied to try and give it ago myself, I got accepted ..... and I have never looked back!
MY TYPICAL DAY…
A typical day for me would be spent in the studio working on my next piece of artwork with a constant supply of coffee. I must have in excess of 100,000 tiles in all colours, shapes and sizes. I am completely computer illiterate so everything I do has to be gridded out with a pen and graph paper the old fashion way. Plus I like to stay interactive with my followers and the galleries I am with throughout the day.
MY MOST MEMORABLE ARTISTIC MOMENT…
That would have to be one of the first group shows I was part of in Bristol. I made a simple 40 x 50 cm piece of art; small in comparison to the other art work that was hanging in the gallery at the time and one of the lead singers from Massive Attack walked into the gallery, scanned the room and said “I want to meet the artist who made that piece” pointing at mine! At which point I had already left the show to go home, my phone rang asking me to return to the gallery which I did, and Grant Marshall asked me there and then if I could do him a private commission for the bands recording studio. That is a moment that will stay with me forever.
Angus' Studio in Bristol
THE WORST PART OF BEING AN ARTIST…
That would have to be the equivalent to writers block for sure, when you have all the gear and no ideas! At which point it is time to leave the studio, go to a few galleries and see if I can find any inspiration there or on the streets of Bristol.
THE BEST PART OF BEING AN ARTIST…
That would have to be getting the buzz when you create something whether it be for the street or gallery and people you’ve never meet before and from all walks of life stops and smiles at your artwork, when they take photos of it, next to it or even buy it, that’s the biggest complement and the best part about being an artist for me. That and I get to wake up and do something I love every day!
AFTER I CLOSE MY STUDIO DOOR AT THE END OF THE DAY...
I always try to catch up with anything that I might have missed on social media throughout the day, like emails, commissions, questions etc, and nine times out of ten there’s always something going on in Bristol whether someone’s painting on the street or there’s an evening show. so I relax with mates and enjoy a beer and plan for the next day.
IF I WASN’T AN ARTIST, I WOULD BE…
A Green Grocer! That’s what I was before I stumbled across Upfest Street Art Festival. So I’d probably still be selling apples and pears and stopping little old ladies from eating most of a bag of grapes before they bought them! “True Story”
