As part of Peckham Festival, we ran a competition looking for an artist to design and paint a mural on the Bussey Building. Amber Elise wowed us with her entry and won the competition in a public vote. After four days of intermittent rain, oodles of paint and a fair share of elbow grease the mural was completed. We caught up with Amber after the festival to find out a little more about her, her piece and her experience of Peckham Festival.
Hi Amber, tell us a bit about yourself: what do you do and how did you get into it?

I’m an artist. I illustrate, screen print and love painting murals.

I feel really lucky to enjoy such an eclectic mix of projects, so it depends what pops up, I’m open to anything creative. I make prints, cards and hand printed textiles which I sell myself and through independent shops. I’ve got a gallery in Bristol with friend and fellow artist Alex Lucas called The Little Shop. We showcase independent artist and makers, there’s about 30 members at the moment.

I’m completely self taught, I didn’t study art but it’s always been a dream of mine to make it my job. After studying business and quite literally bored out of my mind I started to draw and haven’t looked back. It was an incredible moment when I sold my first print

What was the inspiration behind your piece?

A love of cocktails, bright colours and summer vibes inspired the piece. I wanted to create something really bold that would jump right out at people and make them smile.

How did you enjoy painting at Copeland Park?

I had a brilliant time. Copeland Park is an amazing space, so diverse and energetic. There’s also incredible food on every corner – I ate a fair few Taco Queen’s and Boss Lady is top notch!

What was your most memorable moment while painting the mural?

It was an intense four days but it went so quickly. Hard to pin point one particular moment. I loved all the people stopping to see what I was up to, having a little chit chats, taking photos and engaging with the piece.

What were your highlights of Peckham Festival 2016?

The programme was absolutely bursting so that’s a tough question! Hannah Toehill’s Lino Print Workshop and Sonsoles Print Studio open evening were both highlights for me. I love meeting other print makers, checking out their work and techniques and the studio set up in general. What a treat!

You can see the mural on the side of the Bussey Building, opposite The Kiln Rooms. If you’d like to see more work from Amber she has a solo show coming up in South London very soon, visit her Facebook page for more updates.