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Video via CARZAR Creative
Marc Delaye: a mural painter in the Highlands since the 1980s
I’m Marc Delaye, and I run Fresh Paint. Fresh Paint is about commissioned murals — people come to me with their ideas, and I try to paint their vision. I’ve pretty much always done it. In fact, I started back in the late 80s. I meant to stop at one point, but I just carried on, because there was demand for it up here in the Highlands.
Like we said earlier, graffiti is a bit like a black eye to the culture. When you say the word “graffiti,” it’s an umbrella term that also covers things like people writing on graves, or racist graffiti. However, what I’m doing has nothing to do with that.
I think there’s always been a lot of misunderstanding around the art form. In particular, people often confuse the medium with the style of painting.
That perception has changed over time. Some things have shifted, and some haven’t. For instance, a lot of businesses have started targeting a younger audience. That’s more what we did here, in a sense — like signage. It’s the old-school way of doing it, full of imperfections. Overall, I think that’s what makes it connect with people.
Right now, you can see a lot of young artists in America painting vertical lettering on the sides of buildings — 30, 50 metres high. But I’m too old for that.