THE Mount Gambier Fringe has been and gone, but that has not stopped the flow of art inspired by the festival.
Working on their biggest ever canvas, artistic couple Justin Clarke and Aileen Costales-Clarke have put the finishing touches on their Fringe-inspired mural at The Marketplace.
The pair won the opportunity to paint on a large wall-space at the shopping centre through a Fringe Mural competition held earlier this month.
Aileen Costales-Clarke said she quickly created the design to enter the competition at the last minute.
“I kept the design simple, because I knew it was going to be on a massive wall,” Aileen Costales-Clarke said.
“It was strategically designed, because I knew we would only have a short period of time to work on it.”
Inspired by her passions for fashion and art, she was thrilled to be able to incorporate both into the piece.
“It’s very fashion influenced and I saw a photo-shoot of hair being blown away and the theme of this piece started from that, adding my own ideas,” she said.
“The criteria for the competition was built around the Fringe, which is big, bold and crazy, which fits my personality perfectly.”
Usually confined to their own studio, the pair said the opportunity to work in a public environment was exciting.
“People have been randomly telling us how we are doing a great job, so it has been really nice,” Aileen Costales-Clarke said.
“For a moment you might lose motivation or focus and then someone compliments your work and it inspires you to keep going.”
Working together on the project for over three days, the pair conceded there were some “testy moments”.
“When you put two artist together with different ideas, that’s generally going to happen,” Mr Clarke said.
“Overall though, it has just been a lot of fun – working on a piece of this size, you do sort of wonder what it is going to be like, but it has not really been stressful at all.”
The artists were grateful for the creative opportunities provided by Fringe Mount Gambier.
“There are so many talented artists in the region and for them to have that reason to celebrate that and showcase their work is fantastic,” Mr Clarke said.
“It brings a vibrancy to the town and hopefully it encourages artists to express themselves for not just one week, but all year round.”
