Well it has taken a while to process all this, but at the weekend we here at London Calling Blog were privileged enough to get to celebrate one year of the blog (officially the previous weekend) with many of the friends we have made over the last year, artists and photographers alike, with a Paint Jam in Blackall Street, Shoreditch. Working with the title of London Calling Blog Is One, focusing on our first year and setting to bring the people we have met along the way together as One, we felt this was the most appropriate way to celebrate the end of a fantastic year.
We have to say it’s been an amazing year for us on the London Street Art scene, but this is hands down the highlight of an eventful and magnificent year. The weekend saw some 22 artists most kindly show up for us and paint, and in the process treated us and fellow attendees to an impressive array of styles and techniques displayed over the weekend. With 12 artists painting through Saturday and 18 on the Sunday Blackall Street was treated to a fresh coat of paint with works ranging from from imagery to Graffiti, as well as three collaborations, with artists painting by spray can as well as by brush, free hand and stencil works.
Blessed with the sudden rise in temperature considering the time of year, the weather was certainly on our side with two wind and rain free days. On both days painting started in the morning and continued to early evening. Whenever we report on an event like this we like to comment on the atmosphere and mood of the event, and here for the first time it’s really hard to do so without sounding bias, but for us and we are fairly certain all those involved would agree, a fun time was had by all who came along. It was a great weekend with much positive energy, conversation and humour all punctuated by the music playing throughout and of course primarily by the magnificent array of artworks large and small which were created in this little pocket of Shoreditch. For this we can’t thank everyone enough, it wasn’t us that made this weekend so much fun, but everyone that came along and supported by painting and observing.
As is often the case we couldn’t do what we do without the help we receive from the artists and friends we have made along the way and for this weekend just gone we would like to say thanks to firstly all the artists who took part in the weekend, all at their own expense we might add, something we can’t begin to say thank you for enough. All of what we do here is about the love of Street Art and we are flattered and feel honoured that so many artists would turn out and paint for us, ultimately we couldn’t run this blog without the artists going out to paint in London and thank you all that took part and came and painted for the blog this last weekend, something we won’t forget.
To M_Frenchi and Spike_ML who help us here at London Calling Blog track works all the time, but in this instance, thank you both for your help throughout the whole weekend, showing up before the artists to help us buff the spots and setting off to collect extra paint when the artists required, as well as countless other things throughout the weekend, we really couldn’t of put this together so effectively without their help, which we are exceptionally grateful for.
Additionally to everyone else who turned out and spent the weekend with us, great to see so many of you through the weekend and share the moment, it was a pleasure for us. Finally, thanks to Street Art Atlas, M_Frenchi, Spike_ML, Tanya Nash Photography & Inspiring City for the great photographs we have included below (all photos are ours except where credited otherwise). Without further ado we hope you enjoy the images from the weekend, there are many, but we feel the weekend deserves it. Thank You all.
Zina getting her work started.
Sketchbook out for Elno’s coming work.
New Art Rioter, Spike_ML, Olivier Roubieu & Elno with the star of the weekend, Lenny, you can see the joy this little guy brought to the weekend, making an appearance for both days.
The lovable Lenny.
Elno starting out her work.
Morgandy deciding just which of oh so many colours to start out his work.
Zina and Elno at work.
Zina, Elno, New Art Rioter & Morgandy at work.
Bumoe at work on the first layer of colours for his piece.
Elno and New Art Rioter at work.
Elno at work.
New Art Rioter, Elno, Zina & Olivier Roubieu at work.
Morgandy at work.
Halfway point of Day 1 and things are starting to take shape.
Excellent photo of Gary Alford at work, taken by Street Art Atlas (@streetartatlas on Instagram).
Olivier Roubieu and Zina at work.
Olivier Roubieu and Zina at work.
Zina at work.
Olivier Roubieu at work.
Great photo of New Art Rioter at work, taken by Street Art Atlas (@streetartatlas on Instagram).
Gary Alford and Giusi Tomasello at work on pieces both taking their subject from the realm of music.
Bumoe’s contribution to the weekend really coming together now.
Gary Alford and Giusi Tomasello at work.
New Art Rioter at work.
Oliver Roubieu & Zina at work.
Elno & New Art Rioter at work.
Giusi Tomasello at work as evening drew in on Day 1 of the Paint Jam.
Lovely photo of Skeleton Cardboard and Frankie Strand, capturing the casual evening mood on Day 1, taken by Tanya Nash (@tanyanashphotography on Instagram).
Another lovely photo capturing the casual evening mood on Day 1, taken by Tanya Nash (@tanyanashphotography on Instagram).
Excellent photo of Giusi Tomasello, highlighting how the spotlight was very much on the artists this weekend, taken by Inspiring City.
Olivier Roubieu & New Art Rioter at work.
Fantastic photo of Olivier Roubieu at work, taken by Street Art Atlas (@streetartatlas on Instagram).
Bismer One at work.
Pang & Float at work.
Pang, Float, Bismer One, Gary Alford & Giusi Tomasello at work.
Gary Alford at work.
Fantastic photo of Pang & Float discussing their work, taken by M_Frenchi (@M_frenchi on Instagram).
Olivier Roubieu at work.
Jane Mutiny at work,
Great photo of Morgandy at work, taken by M_Frenchi (@M_frenchi on Instagram).
Bismer One & Kapese at work,
Kapese at work.
Jane Mutiny at work.
Pang at work.
Olivier Roubieu at work.
Frankie Strand at work.
Crey One & Jane Mutiny at work.
Crey One at work.
Float at work.
Excellent photo of Giusi Tomasello, centre of at least three cameras attention at this point, taken by Street Art Atlas (@streetartatlas on Instagram).
New Art Rioter at work.
Olivier Roubieu at work.
Zina, New Art Rioter & Morgandy at work.
Morgandy at work.
Frankie Strand at work.
Jane Mutiny at work.
Olivier Roubieu adding his own special dynamic to his portrait with a violent splash of paint.
Crey One, Frankie Strand & Jane Mutiny at work.
Oliver Roubieu & Zina at work.
616 at work.
616, Pang & Giusi Tomasello at work.
Crey One at work.
Just some of the many colours in Morgandy’s repertoire.
Giusi Tomasello at work.
Lovely photo of Jane Mutiny, clearly enjoying the moment, taken by M_Frenchi (@M_frenchi on Instagram).
Frankie Strand at work.
Zina and Morgandy still diligently working away as the second night drew in.
Olivier Roubieu and Zina at work Sunday evening.
Better late than never, Autone couldn’t make it until the end of Day 2 but we are grateful he came by even if just briefly to celebrate with us.
Dedicated attendees there until the end, watching Autone at work Sunday evening.
Great work from New Art Rioter, new to the scene but going from strength to strength with her anime inspired illustration works. Love the big gripping eyes.
Detail of work by New Art Rioter.
Vibrant and soulful work from Elno, a piece that just invites you to stare into her gaze, a beautiful addition to the works this weekend.
Detail of work by Elno.
Interesting work from Zina, who hit out something completely different from her long-standing output of blue-scale portraits, with this bright and funky letter work ‘Recognize’, and outstanding addition to the nature of what we hoped to accomplish this weekend while celebrating.
‘Recognize’ by Zina.
Stunning work from Olivier Roubieu, another artist who seem to be going from strength to strength in recent months. This work depicting Scarlett Johansson is captivating and presents an interesting fusion of realistic portraiture with Graffiti and if you look hard enough you may still be able to see where the rest of the tag is fused in the hair pattern.
Detail of work by Olivier Roubieu.
Detail of work by Olivier Roubieu.
Lovely work from Giusi Tomasello, with a woman dressed up in the famous Aladdin Sane make-up, a touching nod to the recently deceased David Bowie and a work that compliments the work by Gary Alford next to it.
Detail of work by Giusi Tomasello.
Such positively moody work from Gary Alford, presenting a lovely and dark painterly tone with a depiction of Nick Cave, someone who has stated in the past how much his music was inspired by David Bowie.
Detail of work by Gary Alford.
Detail of work by Gary Alford.
Some more funky Graffiti, on this occasion from Kapese on the characters and Bismer One on the lettering. Really interesting colour palette, lots of dark and subdued shades.
Work by Kapese & Bismer One.
Bright, fun and surreal work from Pang & Float, not that we expected anything less from this pairing once they decided to collaborate. The combination of Pang’s largely black and white style along with Float’s use of very bright colours makes for a great fusion and a piece that really was just born out of the moment leaving you almost wondering where to focus your gaze.
Detail of work by Pang & Float.
Detail of work by Pang & Float.
A pleasure that 616 passed through in the afternoon on the second day and couldn’t resist making a mess with one of his trademark designs.
Detail of work by 616.
Striking work from Jane Mutiny, with a fantastic pair of Golden-shouldered Parrots, the colouring is so rich and vibrant in her work and the birds really do seem to pop from the hoarding.
Work by Jane Mutiny.
Detail of work by Jane Mutiny.
‘Dessicated Dolphin’ by Frankie Strand, who painted her first dolphin this weekend in her distinct delightfully macabre manner.
Detail of work by Frankie Strand.
Entertaining work from Skeleton Cardboard, always a pleasure to see what his characters are up to and have to say.
Detail of work by Skeleton Cardboard.
Work by Crey One, which sat superbly alongside the work from Skeleton Cardboard, with the dual skull themes. A great work that even with its minimalist colour palette standouts with the use of shading and the powerful blue highlights.
Detail of work by Crey One.
Absorbing and beautiful Graffiti from Bumoe, a great way to enter or exit Blackall Street at current.
Work by Bumoe.
Detail of work by Bumoe.
Work by Skeleton Cardboard, keeping watch on this entrance to the street.
Works by Oliver Roubieu, Zina, Elno & New Art Rioter.
Works by Elno & New Art Rioter.
Works by Oliver Roubieu, Zina & Elno.
Works by Oliver Roubieu & Zina.
Works by Oliver Roubieu, Zina, Elno & New Art Rioter.
Works by Gary Alford & Giusi Tomasello.
Works by Gary Alford & Giusi Tomasello.
Works by 616 & Pang/Float.
Works by 616, Pang/Float & Kapese/Bismer One.
Works by Skeleton Cardboard & Frankie Strand.
Works by Crey One & Skeleton Cardboard.
Works by Bumoe, Crey One & Skeleton Cardboard and many more.
The most appropriate way to end the event and kindly created by Olivier Roubieu. Big thanks to all on the board and to Tanya Nash, Wandster, Ch4rbear and Monoprixx, sorry for forgetting you all, it was late at this point and completely our error, thanks for coming along and ‘BIG SHOUTOUT’ to you four also.
Until the next time, and there will certainly be a next time, Thank You to all who turned out for the 1st year anniversary Paint Jam and to everyone over the last year who have supported us here at London Calling Blog, it is exceptionally appreciated and we are very grateful for the encouragement and help from many kind people.
We are also extremely privileged to have been featured on Inspiring City, a blog we have long admired and a big influence on us starting our own blog, you can see their fantastic review of the weekend at www.inspiringcity.com
London Calling Blog 
Fantastic review of a fantastic event ! A very friendly atmosphere allowed us all to mix with artists who were clearly happy to be here and we’re most kind to allow us to take as many pictures as we wanted, and we did ! Thanks LondonCalling for those great moments and, especially, for allowing me to be part of it ! Until next time !
Thanks Emmanuelle and Spike, we couldn’t of done without the hard work you both put in, honoured to have had your help and share the weekend with you both. Until the next time indeed, we here at London Calling Blog are looking for bigger things in 2016!
Nice try Spike, only yourself to blame, certainly can’t blame Lenny, he was the superstar of the show!
Totally agree with Emmanuelle, the review and event….fantastic! Feel really privileged to be part of it, so a big thanks all round. Without a doubt a ‘good time’ was had by all. The vibe, the energy, the people…all spot on. It was great spending time with so many street art ‘enthusiasts’ and artists. Don’t think I actually stopped talking….I blame Lenny & Emma! Looking forward to the next time, you can count me in!
amazing work! dont stop it!!!
Thank You Feur & Flamme! Don’t worry we have no intention of stopping anytime soon! Bigger, Bolder and Brighter is the plan!
Well done London Calling on a great paint jam and a cracking write up, glad you liked the article 🙂
Thanks Inspiring City! Glad you made it along, and a real honour to be featured on your beautiful blog. Cheers.
Looks like a lot of good work. 🙂 I’ll have to stop by some day soon to see it.
http://www.jenikya.com/blog
It was a great weekend Jennsie, with many great works indeed, please let us know if you make it down to see the pieces.
Thank you so much for featuring my work and for inviting me to take part! Loved every minute of it. What a brilliantly written piece! Keep doing what you are doing cos you’re great at it! 🙂
Anytime New Art Rioter, Thank You so much for taking part and leaving such a lovely work for us. Most Kind of you to say, no stopping this now, we have to much fun!
It was brilliant. Not biased at all. Fun for us to meet people we normally only interact with online. And some fantastic street art as well. Top quality for me. Well done. Here’s to next year’s jam and another great year of blogging in the meantime.
Thank you, Tanya Nash, really glad you made it along. Indeed to another year of blogging, what else can we do? 🙂 Also yes, we indeed to sort some more events in the future, was to much fun not to.
Happy first birthday !!! Awesome event, beautiful works and great review. Support from Croatia 🙂
Thanks Coyote, really appreciate the comments. Additionally this event was for us, and the many friends, artists and photographers alike, that we have met in London, but it is really nice to know that people from around the globe can enjoy elements of the wonderful weekend we all had. Thanks for sharing!
It’s Kapesex, not Kapese guys 🙂
Sorry to leave it soooooo late to comment but wanted to see what was left in Blackhall Street since this Great BiRthDay JaM baSh…. Lots still there and what a lovely tribute this post is to all the talented artist that took part and all those that supported the event… I can see and feel what a wonderful happy time you all had… Loved tooooooo have been there sooooo roll on next year!!!
Please don’t apologise Mitch. We are very delighted to see that several of the pieces are still standing six weeks down the line, brings a smile to our face every time we pass through the street. It was by far the most fun we have had documenting, viewing and reporting on any Street Art over the last year or so. A weekend that will forever be held special in our hearts. We certainly intend to organize something for next year and you are certainly invited.