Mike Mclean has been an artist for over 20 years and his bright, colourful designs can be seen splashed on walls all around Geelong. Mike spent time in the UK working with disengaged high-risk youth and back in Australia he combines his love of art and working with young people through art classes and mentoring programs. At 23 years old he created a website that showcased artists and their work online. Mike now lives in Geelong and continues to paint and share his amazing murals with the community. Switch had a chat with Mike about his work and what 2013 has in store.
Tell us a bit about your work at the moment?
I work full time as an art teacher at Diversitat, where I deliver a tailored art program to students across Geelong, as well as VCAL classes and extra art classes. Then there is my private work as an artist where I do a lot of large-scale murals in Geelong and Melbourne. I’ve been getting people to come along and help me paint them. Last year I completed about 20 murals; some were commissions from the City Of Greater Geelong, some were through Diversitat and the others were because I’d just seen a wall with high visibility that I thought, “I’ve just got to paint that”.
In 2013 I’m looking to get more paid commissions, but if I see a wall with high exposure – like the large parrot mural I did on the surf coast highway in Torquay – I’d jump at the opportunity to paint a wall like that again.
Why did you want to become an artist?
I actually chose to do art in year 11 because I thought it would be an easy subject but I was surprised how much I enjoyed it and how much the work I was producing actually meant to me. At the end of year 11 we had to talk to the whole class about our artwork and I was so passionate talking about mine that everyone thought I was joking but I was actually very serious. Besides that moment in school, there wasn’t really a conscious decision at any point to become an artist; I just enjoyed it so much that I kept doing it.
You’ve done a lot of street art in the last few years; do you prefer street art to other art forms?
I come from an oil painting background, but I love street art as well. My paintings are always bright, colourful, large and loud so it was only a matter of time before I started taking techniques from street art and merging them with traditional oil painting techniques. I don’t really classify myself as a street artist, but I do a lot of street art and the works I do on canvas use a lot of street art techniques. My work is a bit of a mix between the two worlds, which I think is good because you have to keep your options open.
What do you think of the street art culture in Geelong?
I‘m a huge advocate for Geelong becoming a mecca for street art. I believe we’re in a position to become one, as we have a real café culture building in the city. It’s happening slowly and I think that Geelong has so many artists and creative people here; it’s a very passionate community. I do as many murals as I can (I’ve never done anything illegally) and that’s selling the idea to the public, because the more it’s seen by people, the more it’s not automatically associated with something negative or illegal.
What inspires your designs?
We all have things that we like – that’s why we wear the clothes we do and listen to certain music, and it’s the same for me with my artwork. Instagram is a big inspiration for me as I’ll see something that’s really cool and adapt that into one of my murals or it’ll spark an idea. My paintings also tend to focus on people. So my sources of inspiration come from things like magazines and instagram but also day-to-day life. I paint what I’m interested in.
What’s the best thing about being an artist?
I think it’s just about being able to do something that makes me feel good about myself, and there’s a lot of validation with producing a good piece. I really enjoy it when people buy my work because it’s a real compliment, but I also love producing large-scale murals in the public that other people can enjoy without having to purchase anything. There’s not really any deeper message, I just really enjoy what I do and I’ve got a great job that links in directly with what I love so I feel very fortunate.
https://www.facebook.com/MikeMcLeanArtist
Photo credit: Mike Mclean Artist Facebook
Jessica Dickers 