Goooood day Steemies I hope all is well with you today.
Last Friday I had the pleasure of taking a group of Steemies who go by the name of Team... I mean Steem Sugars (not sure if that should be one word, but anywho) on a Private Graffabout to a lil spot in Shorditch called the Nomadic Community Gardens.
It was myself and 5 members of Steem Sugars + 1 friend
For those wandering whats a Steem Sugar is, they are a group of Woman who look to empower other women alike on the Steemit platform. They work togther helping each other out on the platform bringing a really beautiful community together!
I grew up around 3 sistersΒ so was well prepared for the madness that would follow ππ€£ππ€£π (you'll understand as I go along)
So after meeting at Liverpool street station we headed on the private Graffabout tour!
We had only got as far as across the road before the antics started!
I stopped, bent down to get my Camera out of my bag and the ladies had stopped to take pictures of Dirty Dicks πππ€£ππ€£π (faces blurred for legal purposes) ππ€£ππ€£π
(What are they like a)
Any who!!! After dragging them away from the Dirty Dicks we continued on our quest for Graff!
It didn't take long before we found some and boy was it a gem!!!
I have not been in the game long but I recognised this piece here that was from one of my favourite graffiti artist who goes by the name of This one's art!
He has a distinctive style and is a well respected artist!
In the Graffiti world you can tell this by how long someone's work stays up and I think he still has some bits from 2016 up around Shorditch (send some Graffabout pics in if you do come across any of his works π)
(See links below to his social media)
https://www.instagram.com/thisones_art/
Screenshot_20180218-183014.jpg
We carried on down the back roads passing some beautiful shops and markets and I was starting to feel like a school teacher with his class!
Conversation was flowing Β (am sure I heard a few are we there yet ππ€£ππ€£π and the was a point when I think I tried to tell them how to cross a road ππ€£ππ€£π. I did catch myself after that!)
After crossing the road it wasn't long until we came across another piece by another Artist whos feature book I had recently purchased! He does some work with the Gums and Tonuge Crew whos exhibition I had recently done a shoot at.
He does some really dark art that you just can't help but stare at!
His name is Tom Blackford and you can see his links below.
https://www.instagram.com/tomblackfordart/
As we walked on you could now start to see what is so great about this place with art just becoming apart of the route like it's just meant to be there. I think this is one of the great things about growing up in London for the young and old and is a really great way for those who struggle to find right words to express themselves!
At a point there was a sudden shout and a point towards the horizon! I thought it might be superman but no it was a perfect selfie moment that someone had spotted and was not going to be missed!
As you can see below there is a shop called Dark sugars which I guess kind of rhymes with Team Suger, I mean Steem Sugers π (I'm so gonna get it ππ€£π)
Any who I thought I would use this moment to try and catch someone off guard π (is anyone else thinking I should have snapped this one out side of Dirty Dicks? No? No! Ok just me π€£ππ€£π)
We walk after this selfie moment and I can hear a few tummies rumbling so we make haste!
We pass some more great works just before we hit the corner that is going to take us 2mins to our destination (10mins with this lot in selfie mode!)
I shit you not at this point I had not seen anyone of them touch a drop of alcohol but you would never have guessed ππ€£ππ€£π just look at these ππ€£ππ€£π!
After a bit of crazy antics we get moving and I come across some work from an artist I habe had the privilige to work with who goes by the name of The Reves one!
He has a style that I just love!
Its always great to see the work of artist you have worked with directly (You can check out the shoot I did just before the xmas on my Hardgraff39 instagram link at the end of this blog)
For now check out Reves ones work and links
https://www.instagram.com/therevesone/
With hunger lurking we moved on and hit the outside of the Nomadic Community Gardens! Sadley it was closed but luckily it is surronded by graffiti so it was time for some snaps and selfies of course.
We headed in the direction of food and on route came across some Graffers throwing up some work!
The ladies were now at this point getting Hangry so I let the local take over to guide us to food!
(I'm guessing some were hangrier than others as more selfies were taken by some of the great pieces on route)
Trust me you will find it very hard not to stop and take some pics even when your tummy is rumbling! The works around there are just something else!
After a bit of back and throwing and realigningthe compus we manged to head in the direction of Busaba where I was able to get to know these ladies a little better!
And I can say they are an amazing group of human beings all helping each other out! Great banter, all doing some interesting things and most of all empowering each other! I did not feel one bit uncomfortable hanging with a group of women as some guys do! I was myself the whole time as I am sure they will tell you ( I'm like Marmite, cheap and not to everyone's taste ππ€£ππ€£π)
It was a great meal and apart from them getting meanmummys order to the table a day late it went without major misshap! (Meammummy might say different ππ€£π)
We had a couple of people that needed to head of so after a few selfies of course (even I got involved in these ones πI'd been secretly waiting all night ππ€£ππ€£π)
We headed off! Dropped off Alice and Bristina and headed off to a nice whisky spot called Bull in a China Shop where they serve my favourite Japanese whisky π (they have other drinks too)
This spot though nice was a bit too packed so we had one drink and moved on to a spot we could sit down (forgot to get the name but one of the ladies from the crew will have it I am sure)
This spot closed at midnight but our night was not over yet!
I had just had a message from my lil bro who had just finished commentating at the boxing in York hall that night! (Which I was meant to be at but I could not let these ladies down and so Glad I chose to do it after Redrica had requested a tour as her Friend meanmummy was coming all the way from Denmark and had said she'd love to see some Graff!)
Any way he had said there was an after party just in Bethnal Green which was a 15 min walk up the road!
We walked of some of that food and alcohol and headed to the bar!
On entry I gave a few intros to my bro who is also on Steemit @michaelvenompage
He is a pro MMA MMA fighter and pro boxer with a few highlight reels on youtubeπ check out his details below along with some of the others.
https://www.instagram.com/michaelvenompag
My home boy Rants and Bants was also there! He is one of these YouTube hit guys who is a bit controversial ππ€£π he also interviews fighters as well.
https://www.instagram.com/dsrantsnbants/
I had a word with Mike and asked if he could introduce the ladies to David Haye who is the promoter of this boxing event and former Heavy weight champion!
David had no issue with taking a few selfies π€£ππ€£π a real gent π
Sweets were shared, more drinks were drunk at the free bar put on by David!
https://www.instagram.com/mrdavidhaye/
This night I have to say was a great night all in all! I got a chance to share my passion with an amazing group of amazing individuals, great conversation, food, drinks, jokes and Graff!
What more can a man ask for....π€π€π€
Ohhh and
π
If any of you would like to see some of the works that I do then please check out my two instagram pages (links below)
https://www.instagram.com/hardgraff39/
https://www.instagram.com/terty9photography/
Don't forget to check out These amazing ladies @steemsugars
And keep your eyes out for some more Graffabout tours in the summer ππππ½
#Hardgraff39oninstagram #Graffabout #Graffiti #Streetart #Friendsofhardgraff39 #Steemsugers!