Gisborne artist paints a mural at Gold Coast street art festival

Gisborne artist Kelly Spencer is on a high after painting this large mural at the Surface Street Art Festival in the Gold Coast last week.

A laid-back mermaid was the focal point of a large mural that was painted by Gisborne artist Kelly Spencer at the Surface Street Art Festival in the Gold Coast, Australia last week.

Kelly said she felt very lucky to be one of

12 artists — and the only one to have come from out of Australia — invited to paint in the Surface Street Art Festival in the beachside suburb of Miami.

“It’s been an absolute joy being part of this festival. I’ve loved every minute,” she said

The festival is produced by the creative team at Miami Marketta — a hybrid street food night market and live music venue — a Gold Coast institution.

This is the third year the festival has run.

The design is inspired by the old-school creative vibe that Miami has managed to maintain, despite being nestled in the shadows of the shiny looming gold coast sky scrapers.

“The mermaid is flanked by my signature,  hand-crafted typography, which reads ‘We’re holding on to what’s golden’ — a lyric from American hip-hop icons Jurassic 5,” Kelly says.

“It’s a play on words — referencing the Gold Coast while alluding to the stronghold on good, old, gritty good times, which can be seen in the breweries, creative spaces, surfboard shapers, cafes and venues of Miami.”

There is symbolism throughout — the vinyl record earring, her hand pulling the skaka, the hibiscus flowers, the retro pattern of her tail and similarly retro-coloured palette, and then the local produce dripping from her basket.

“They do locally produced food really well here.”

“These street art festivals are such a rad opportunity to connect with other muralists from around the world — it’s really special for us to be able to spend time with like-minded creatives who share a similar lifestyle. Everyone involved in the festival is fabulous  — the artists, the festival crew, the sponsors and the general enthusiastic public.

“Us artists are looked after so well. (We need to spend long) days out in the elements, which in this instance was glorious mid-‘winter’ sunshine, up in the sky in a boom-lift. And the nights are often filled with socialising.

“Just last night, we wrapped up the festival with a laneway closing party at Marketta with a line-up of live Aussie bands.”

From here, Kelly will flip her world upside down, don a puffer jacket or two, and fly straight into the freezing temperatures of Dunedin to begin work on a collaborative mural outside Dunedin town hall.

Her newest project is a council commission aligned with the FIFA women’s world cup games being hosted in Ōtepoti.

■ The mural “We’re holding on to what’s golden” measures approximately 7 by 10 metres and was painted with locally supplied latex paint. It took six days to complete.