I feel extremely honoured that the first mural I painted in Montreal was chosen as one of the Top Ten Small Murals in 2018! 

Check out the C'est Toi Ma Ville Website for the lovely article!

I had an amazing time at the IWS Canada and CSPWC exhibition and award ceremony. Thanks to the CALQ for funding the trip!

I got the chance to learn from some amazing talented artists. I also had the honour of being an invited guest and accepting the 2nd place National prize!

My painting "Kasa" will be exhibited until until October 27th at the Boynton House in Richmond Hill. 

I have just finished my latest mural in Montreal located at the corner of rue Beaubien and rue Drolet! Here is the story:
​
Peregrine Falcon, Montreal, QuebecIn 1980, there was only one peregrine falcon nesting couple left in southern Quebec which increased to 196 by 2015. (1)  In 2018 in Montreal, fifteen have been born in Montreal and all have survived! (2) Peregrine Falcons in Quebec have consistently occupying more territories since 1970. (3) Populations of peregrine falcons have increased all over Canada greatly thanks to the ban on the insecticide DDT. (1)  

​""This species has undergone a large and statistically significant increase over the last 40 years in North America (2,600% increase over 40 years)" (4)

Read more: (1) Peregrine falcon population sees record growth in Quebec, CBC, Oct 2015, (2) Une Excellent Année Pour le Faucon Pérlin à Montreal, Radio Canada, Martin Labrosse, 2018, (3) Quebec Management Plan for Peregrine Falcons, COSEWIC, (4) IUCN, Red list: Peregrine Falcon, The peregrine falcon's remarkable turnaround - Canadian Geographic, Harry Wilson, Dec.2017,  

I had the honour of participating in the Beantatuz International Street Art Festival in Tolosa, Spain! I painted a mural to tell the story of efforts to save the brown bear in the region:

Brown bears almost became extinct due to illegal poaching in the Cantabrian Mountains, in the Basque Region of Northern Spain. Thanks to efforts from EuroNature and other foundations the population has almost double within ten years. However, work still needs to be done to help increase their populations in other areas. Learn more and find out how you can help at:  EuroNatur , Fundacio Oso Asturias, Fundacio Oso Pardo

Here are some shots of the process and my interactions with the public:

θαλάσσια χελώνα (Sea Turtle) 

This painting was created to raise awareness about the actions taken in Greece to save the sea turtles by companies like Archelon and WWF Greece. For example, they protect the island of Zakynthos which invlcudes 500-1000 nests a year and protects over 2,500 nests each year. 

Many other countries around the world have been working to save the sea turtles. According to records from individual time series there are more population increases than descreases: ''we found 95 significant increases in abundance and 35 significant decreases'' (1) Hopefully, this trend will start to continue so we can see population increases around the globe!


(1) Science Advances  20 Sep 2017:
Vol. 3, no. 9, e1600730
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1600730

My newest painting features the Iberian Lynx, from Portugal. The pattern is inspired by the azulejo design that you can see covering many buildings around Portugal.
After six decades of decline the lynx population increased from 52 mature individuals in 2002 to 156 in 2012.(1) It was moved from Critically Endangered to Endangered by the IUCN Red List. 

“This is fantastic news for the Iberian Lynx, and excellent proof that conservation action really works,” says Urs Breitenmoser, Co-Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Cat Specialist Group. “However, the job is far from finished and we must continue our conservation efforts to secure future range expansion and population growth of the species.”

(1) IUCN

An interesting article shedding some positivity on even the worlds most trafficked animal. Even though the situation is currently bleak there is a lot of change happening and it is not so hopeless! As I am gathering and researching information for my new series about endangered animals I am inspired by this article from David Robson on BBC Future. 

"Many people in the West have never even heard of the pangolin, yet this “scaly anteater” is the source of a billion-dollar criminal industry that threatens to push it to extinction. BBC Future met a team of Hong Kong’s ecologists and activists trying to save these creatures from extinction."