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<\/p>\nARTIST Mike McLean breaks into a smile as he does a quick mental count of how many wagtail paintings he has produced in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, it\u2019s well over a thousand blocks now,\u201d he muses, looking around his colourful home studio in Torquay where his bird-inspired creations are perched on a shelf.<\/p>\n
Mike explains the wagtail stencil started out as a visual signature \u2013 or tag \u2013 which appeared on his large-scale murals and soon after as stand-alone artworks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started offering it to people for free for their front fences with the goal of doing 100 houses and stopping there,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I got to about 340 houses locally and it just kept going. I then came across the idea of making the blocks as gifts and essentially starting giving them out for free \u2013 almost like a business card.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, his modest wagtail project has evolved into so much more \u2013 for both Mike and the happy Surf Coast locals who snap up one of his delightful creations free-of-charge.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe wagtails are so inoffensive and have so much personality that it\u2019s just brought a lot of happiness, fun and joy to the community,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat for me is the driving factor now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hear of children playing spot the wagtail \u2013 I hear hundreds of different stories from families about their own version of that joy from the wagtail and I love that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just become this thing and I think with COVID the last two years we are all seeking out joy in our lives and, for me, I\u2019m very thankful that the wagtails have been able to help people with what we are going through as a community.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me personally it has brought a lot of satisfaction and happiness making other people happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wagtail movement has even caught on beyond the Surf Coast, with orders flying in from Tasmania, Sydney, Coolangatta and Perth in the past few weeks since Mike started selling them for $20 (including postage) to those outside the Surf Coast area.<\/p>\n
But he is determined to keep offering the wagtail blocks for free to locals.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s not much in our lives you can get for free anymore, we\u2019re so governed, we\u2019re so controlled, we\u2019re all seeing that now with the lockdowns,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me it\u2019s like a hobby that brings joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, trying to personally deliver them got too big a job so Mike \u2013 through social media channels \u2013 invited local residents to drop by his house in Eton Road to collect one for themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found it almost impossible to keep up with deliveries and I didn\u2019t like disappointing people who were waiting so long,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was a lot easier for me to put them in the front garden and if people want them, they\u2019ll make the effort to come and get them.\u201d<\/p>\n
And they did just that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll put 10 out in the morning and by 11am they are all gone. I\u2019ll put another lot out and they\u2019ll be all gone, so I\u2019m literally doing 30 a day and that\u2019s been going on for a couple of months now \u2013 it\u2019s gone bananas. It\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
His only request is that people take just one each so no-one misses out.<\/p>\n
Beyond the wagtail blocks, Mike is a sought-after artist who is known for his colourful large-scale murals and his portrait work.<\/p>\n
His brightly hued portraits of women\u2019s faces, in particular, are held in collections from London to New York. He also does custom portraits of people and pets.<\/p>\n
Mike says he fell in love with art after choosing the subject in Year 11 because he thought it would be \u201ceasy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Instead, he took the subject seriously and his passion for art grew from there.<\/p>\n
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\u201cLike most people with a thing that you love, I\u2019ve had my ups and downs but I\u2019ve just kept at it and although I am quite driven, I\u2019ve never relied on my art because I don\u2019t want to ruin it with a commercial pressure,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get a great deal of satisfaction out of people who have sought me out, looked at my work and purchased it. It\u2019s a massive compliment and I am always very grateful and thankful for their interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get a lot more joy out of the wagtails though \u2013 I think because it is completely non-commercial and that\u2019s what makes it so special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike now teaches art part-time at Northern Bay Secondary after more than 15 years spent working with disengaged youth both at home and in the UK as an outreach support worker, disability support worker and art teacher.<\/p>\n
Beyond his creative pursuits, Mike is also a dedicated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor in Torquay and a doting dad to his kids, 15-year-old Fern and Boston, 10.<\/p>\n
He has even recruited his youngest to help with the wagtails.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing I ever did was moving down here 12 years ago \u2013 the best thing,\u201d Mike says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Surf Coast as a region has incredible artists \u2013 we\u2019ve just got such an amazing and concentrated pool of creatives, it\u2019s actually ridiculous.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it and I lived overseas for nine years and travelled a lot in my life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very lucky here. There is something very special happening on the Surf Coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hugely thankful for the community support and everything that has come out of the wagtails.\u201d<\/p>\n