GOD'S OWN JUNKYARD

Marcus Breacey is a third-generation neon artist and owner of God's Own Junkyard, in Walthamstow, London. It is a mecca of neon signage collected by his grandfather, from his work in carnivals and circuses. His father Chris Breacey then became the go-to Neon artist in London creating sex-shop signage and Hollywood film props, teaching Marcus how to design and fabricate neon. The warehouse now holds 1400+ signs that are free for the public to view. It is the biggest collection of Neon outside of USA. I have always wanted to visit this place, hopefully I can next time I'm in London.

ARTIST - CHRISTOPHER WOOL

This particular artwork by Christopher Wool inspired me. I really appreciate the blatant, brash nature of the statement. To me, it shows a person at the end of their tether, at a crossroads in life.

"The quotation is from the 1979 Francis Ford Coppola movie Apocalypse Now, where it is written in a letter mailed home by a character who has lost his mind in the jungle."

This piece last sold for £27 million +

Apocalypse Now , Christopher Wool - 1988

My House, Christopher Wool - 2000

I admire the simplicity of the stencil typography, with these hard hitting words. There is no holding back, which breaks the rules of being nuanced in art-work. It says whatever it wants to say. I intend to do the same with my work, although my style is different, I hope to deliver words and messages that speak deeply to the viewer.

EXPERIMENT

I used Illustrator to vector my original Rock Bottom drawing. This process meant I could cut this out on my Cricut vinyl machine and get a better idea of scale and colour. I chose these deep reds, blacks and browns to give the dark and melancholy vibe I was looking for.

Once vectored each individual piece has to be cut seperately, in order to be layered.

I had an idea to mirror the image and apply it to some foamboard then cut by hand, as the foamboard is too thick to cut on the vinyl machine.

I used a scalpel to cut it by hand. However this was EXTREMELY difficult at some points given the spiky nature of the font. This one was a definite fail! Foamboard wasn't going to be my material of choice but I did want to use it to experiment. This made me more determined to use the laser cutter with a stronger material.