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Dino - Real. Sustainable. Creative

@ok_creates

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multidisciplinary artist and creative in Ōtautahi (Christchurch), New Zealand with a reuse, reduce and recycle ethos
endo and mental health advocate

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Felt good to be creating in one of my favourite spaces again, and better yet find a way to participate in a party even with the energies I find are changing in myself 🧡

@_xchc was a welcome discovery coming out of the dark holes I had fallen into early last year, then with the intensity of the first lockdown, I really needed some hope.
Exchange gave me some of that, and more.

I've found a whole community of creative and conscious individuals, found the closest allies in people I previously never thought I could approach, scored myself work in abundance and even through each exploration and adventure, found a beautiful home and safe space.

I'm so grateful for the community I get to share in, across this warehouse, throughout the houses around the city, and even to the wider community that resides across the country.

Better yet, all the art on Saturday was just for fun, no commission, no purpose, creating for the sake of creating.

Entirely finger painted flower inspired by the event curated by @_thevoidwalker and carefully applied wood stain on plain plywood ready to be shjuzzed by @crkt.jpg

#artislife #weneedart #artcommunity #cacophony #art #nzartist #fingerpainting #woodstain
#showup #keepgoing #christchurchart #creativespaces #immersiveart #creativecommunities #creativeforhire by @ok_creates

Masterpiece done!

What an absolute pleasure to create this one, inspired by gorgeous Kaikoura diving and the well loved El Pulpo art car from @burningman for dear friends!
Thanks to the very creative soul I created this for, Piet, a multi-layered mural finally got to come to fruition!

I haven't done the best at calling in the celebrations as of late, but right now I'd like to pay homage to the love and efforts I have put into my creative practice this year -more walls adourned, challenging myself with markets, creating another wild immersive event, finishing smaller commissions and even finding new ways to express myself!

I am so wildly excited for what 2023 has to offer and I hope I can continue to inspire and bring joy from all the muddled thoughts floating through my head!

🐙

#artstagram #streetart #muralart #krakenart #burningman #nzartist #christchurchart #keepgoing #showup #artislife by @ok_creates

Hard to fathom this was 2021,

My gratitude for what has unfolded beyond this is immense.

I will never stop fighting for the conservation of our native species. Ever.
They drive me to do better everyday. by @ok_creates

Absolutely chuffed to have pulled this one off across a weekend for the new offices of @shaktimats

They wanted bold patterns, a little symbolism and bright colour's aligned with their new branding!
I delivered!

Shakti has some fabulous values and it was exciting to translate these on to the awfully white walls!

I so hope the team feels a little more inspired with the vibrancy of the space, I sure do!

Does your office need a jazz up?
Get in touch! 🧡

Special thanks to
@themeproductions -projector
@naturalpaintco -epic biodegradable paint!
If yall didn't know, sustainability is just about one of the most important ethos to my art!
Reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️
Care for our planet!

#shaktimat #officereno #officemural #nzmurals #nzmuralartist #muralartist #artmatters #fundthearts #keepgoing #showup #okcreates #nzartist #artstagram #artdaily by @ok_creates

I mean, if ya know you know

2 years ago in an old debilitated theatre we did transform a space indeed.

It's been a hot minute since I got to paint on the walls, and I've got to say, it is missed.

You might just find me scribbling away at something at Dancing Plant @_xchc this weekend though!
Or at least meet me on the d floor 💃

Ideas are forming once moreee

#nzartist #muralartist #nzmurals #maryhush
#whoismary #keepgoing #showup #artmatters #fundthearts by @ok_creates

Man this photo is getting me yo, it's nice to see me in my delight -having just gotten my shaken disregulated body through a tattoo so easily -so stoked at another square of fabric etched on to my skin, straight from MY story. A moment of affirmation of the growth I've made, of the work I've put in, of the person I'm becoming.

It's been a weird time as of late, over the summer everything that hadn't already gotten shaken up over the years previously has unearthed itself.

I feel so in my inner child and so vulnerable with the ups and downs of my body -my capacity and equally the total rearrange of my external pillars.

I'm trying to mend a relationship with a vessel that so often leaves me unable to leave bed, try new scary methods to ease the madness. I'm confronting the deep seated beliefs I have of myself -finally truly finding accountability for how difficult I can be (and being compassionate for it) rather then in a constant spectrum of projecting even if not intentional, or even consciously.

Even my art has been on hold in a sense, I haven't done a mural for longer then I can recall, or even commissions or sales of what I already have.
What I have been creating? It's a bit weird, dark, different for me.

So therefore even this online presence, or my involvement in many creative communities has faded away.

I no longer want to try to be something I'm not, so no longer is my art so palatable, my presence so direct to the market.

I'm just here, creating, being, learning how to be one with the earth, to live off it. I've taken a step back from socializing, struggling to maintain even with those closest.
I guess this is just me, unfiltered.
I had someone ask if I was happy the other day, and I just said it honestly depends when you're checking in? Life ebbs and flows, especially with the journey I am carving with my complicated body (and my loud mind) -so I'd say at the moment I'm alright really. I'm riding the waves and finding reasons to laugh often on my own even if so hard.

So hi hi, I'm still here, my hair is longer, I'm out of the hustle bustle of the city and I've become a green thumb fiend, and boy is there creations a-coming 😘

Love from Dino x by @ok_creates

If today's feeling loud, I invite you to take a minute and enjoy this little compilation while recalling that you're kind of like one of these cuties too -learning, growing, making mistakes and messes, hopefully getting cuddled 🧡
Be kind to yourself 🧡
And try to get around some puppies, it'd be a wholly understatement to stay I spent a good 20 minutes belly to the ground giggling to tears 🤣

Meanwhile Makers Market is at XCHC today (6/4/24), I popped some pieces in and forgot to capture them to share, so instead puppies, entirely irrelevant and yet relevant to my creative practice -you're welcome 😘

#nzartist #keepgoing #showup #selfcare by @ok_creates

So today my therapist told me I needed to let go of my self help addiction, after a very honest conversation over text -which I immediately argued I had already culled my consumption by a good 80% -if that doesn't argue hooked I don't know what does. Caught red handed eh.
Regardless, I've since done another sweep out of the podcasts, and then went ahead to clear my shelves of nothing but fiction or skill/knowledge building books.

Through it, I found this ^, one of my first artistic collaborations, painting the wonderful Lisa's story upon her, to be photographed as the cover.
(It's also a really fantastic raw book if you feel inclined 😘)

It's as though I'm suddenly fulled with a swath of memories of body paints and past ideas -and even just the acknowledgement of all I've already achieved.
It"s good to remember where we have been (to an extent).

I am at least so grateful with a swath of old moments and memories of this time in my life flooding in by the numerous opportunities presented to me, for the trust others found with me, of my own tenacity to create something out of nothing.

Starting to feel like I'm needing more blank canvas to work with ATM, I've been repainting a lot of old stuff (incredibly important on my reuse ethos), however my brain is probably due a refresh from carting around all these skeletons and expectations of everything.

Another big pondering day, apparently I just need to focus on finding joy in the present.

What brings you immersive joy?

#creativejourney #bodypaint #coverartwork #nzartist #keepgoing #showup #artmatters #fundtheart #creativeforhire by @ok_creates

I felt deeply moved this morning reading of Nio's passing @visit_zealandia and with a newly gifted set of tools from my dear friend I got to experimenting with lino for the first time, hoping to show off these beautiful birds.

For my first piece with carving and stamping lino, I'm stoked! However being me it felt almost impossible to not add in a splash of colour (coloured printing ink -add to cart) which of course was with @naturalpaintco another one of my favourite places in New Zealand -biodegradable paint?! Yes please!

So now more so then ever getting on up to Zealandia (look it up my fellow avian fanatics) is the top of my list, because boy, do I love birds!

Might even see me @_xchc this weekend at the Makers Market and be able to snatch up a unique Takakē print yourself with 40% of profits going straight back to the very bird you see here!

Follow for more birds, nature fiending goodness and sustainable practices! 😘

#nzartist #birdart #takake #nznativebirds #keepgoing #showup #christchurchmarket #artstagram #birdsofinstagram by @ok_creates

Last year, I made one of craziest deals of my life to date and this was coming off one of my more momentous breakdowns -one for a moment I didn't know if I wanted to come out of.

Within 36 hours of first being shown this beast as above on Facebook marketplace, I owned it. Me. I couldn't really believe it. I was terrified and jittery and unsure, a project perhaps to big for me to chew -which we had discussed too (we being my partners in crime and I, my reasoning doting dad and an incredibly patient and practical love).

Can only imagine my horror as I've found all the frustration I've felt with myself to be projected upon the people trying to help me build it, because I couldn't quite articulate what I was thinking, or didn't have the visual to understand where they were coming from.

Yet today, after weeks meaning to finalize plans and make calls that felt impossible to make, I tapped into how I learn, how I create, how I exist.

I tediously measured everything out to convert it down with ratios to build an accurate model in order to best place the internal layout to actually get this shit on the move again.

And it's fucking worked.

It's the next aha moment, the next gut yes, hopefully the next step into creating the most wild thing of all -a home.

My newfound internal motto of I will find gratitude for what I can do, and compassion for what I cannot.

Work with yourself first, what are your strengths, what do you enjoy? How can we make overwhelming things achievable or enjoyable?

At least make the promise to yourself that you'll honour how you work, without this constant battle and comparison of others.

I realize the best way I can articulate is to put what's on my head into physical being, like a projector for others to comprehend, to empathize with, challenge, celebrate.

If I want to get out of my isolated fish bowl unheard, I need to adapt my external to allow for my internal to truly blossom.

So here's a little bit of that, and here's to 3D models and visual thinkers and procrastinators and big dreamers -we are dope 🤌

#nzartist #artmatters #fundthearts #tinyhousemovement #trailerconversion #ilovemaths #keepgoing #showup #onlyhuman #okcreates by @ok_creates

I have been painting a lot, it's felt like the thing to get lost in when I'm feeling lost.

I'm getting faster too, most precise in how I bring about shadow and light.

It's nice.

Here's a abstract macaw creation from this afternoon.

Enjoy x

#birdart #macawsofinstagram #nzartist #keepgoing #showup #artmatters #fundthearts by @ok_creates

I have an abundance of colour thanks to @naturalpaintco and @resenecolour -both previous sponsors and supporters of my larger scale works.
And this doesn't even include the colours I have in 1s, 2s and 4 litres!
NZ businesses coming through supporting the arts! ✊
Resene has just about every colour you can imagine and you've heard me yell to the rooftops about Natural Paint co being BIODEGRADABLE and yet incredibly hard wearing!

Feeling my creative itch come about again? Feel like collaborating on a piece for you? Reach out please!
I want to use these upppp!

🧡🧡🧡

#nzartist #kiwiartist #fundthearts #christchurchcreatives
#naturalpaintco #resenecolour #muralartist #artstagram #artdaily #keepgoing #showup #colourporn by @ok_creates