’’We’ve all experienced being dropped from a job in the last minute’’, Curtis says.
Curtis in front of his Abbey Road panting in the Baltic.
Paul Curtis is one of Liverpool’s most known street artists. His famous ‘’For All Liverpool’s Liver Birds’’ painting in the Baltic Triangle is just one of many works he has created.
Curtis used to work in the oil industry. Five years ago, he started making street art.
‘’I tried to get back in the oil industry, but I couldn’t find work. Then my sister wanted me to paint her daughter’s bedroom. It was going to be a painting of Bambi on her wall. It was the first time I tried anything like that. I put it on Facebook and a lot of people told me it was really good’’, Curtis says while being interviewed by the Baltic N’ Dock.
He had some foundation before he started. But most of it he has been learning along the way.
‘’I knew I was okay at drawing. But I didn’t go to practice somewhere or anything. I practiced on the job a little bit, although that’s not something I recommend. Doing it in the early days, I made a lot of mistakes. Then you must redo it and it will take a lot of time. Today I can look back at some of my works and cringe a little bit’’.
Pressure on his shoulders
As a street artist, your audience can be almost anyone. This is something Curtis has in mind while doing his job.
Two years ago, he made a painting in the Baltic Triangle to honor the 50th anniversary for The Beatles’ Abbey Road album. Jobs like these come with pressure from the public’s opinion.
‘’Of course, there is pressure. Street art is a popular medium because you paint for everyone to see. If you go to an art museum to see sculptures, they’re often made for specific groups of people that pay to get in. Street art is different. It’s a part of people’s everyday life. If you get it wrong, you will be destroyed on social media’’, Curtis says.
That said, he has never had a client saying they’re not happy with his work. After one year of doing street art Curtis has been doing this as his full-time job for the last four years.
‘’Most comments I get are supportive. But you do get the odd one out or two that’s just cruel. I have learned to not take it to heart because it’s a minority’’.
Should be more of a community
Liverpool has a lot of street art all over the city. The Baltic Triangle may be where you find the most of it. In addition to Curtis, many other artists do jobs for sums of money that may vary.
Sometimes they don’t get treated fairly, Curtis says:
‘’Every street artist will tell you that they have been left out from a job at the last minute. After design talks and every preparation is done, there is just silence an no answers on your e-mails. As a street artist you are sort of a lone voice in such situations’’.
For these reasons, he thinks it would be necessary to build a stronger community together.
‘’To be honest there is no get togethers or anything. You do get comments on your work from other artists online. But the more I’ve been working with this the more I think we should have more of a community. Collective work would make our jobs easier. But the thing is street artists are also in a sort of competition with each other at the same time’’.
However, the downsides of the job are not enough to make him quit as the upsides are more important to Curtis.
‘’I like what I do and getting feedback. And the fact that whenever the phone rings it’s something new. I never know what to expect when I pick up the phone and talk to a client’’.
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