ARTDECKO winners reveal their inspiration

The blank decks have been prepped, the posca pens are ready and you can feel the excitement in the air ahead of ARTDECKO which kicks off this weekend – Councils annual skate deck art workshops and exhibition.

Now in its sixth year, young people aged 10-24 are invited to attend a series of workshops to paint their own unique designs onto a skate deck which expresses their creativity and displays their artistic ability with the help of a professional artist.

Last year saw 200 skate decks from local young people and guest artists go on display following the workshops – double the number from the previous year.

We caught up with both the male and female winners of the People's Choice Awards. They told us the inspiration behind their works.

Hugo Mortimer from Terrey Hills said last year was his first time attending the workshops and exhibition.

I think the workshops are a great idea for young people to expand their ideas and come up with cool designs. The staff really helped me with interesting techniques using Posca pens.

When asked what inspired his design he said he just wanted to produce a graphic that was cool to ride.  

I designed a colourful giraffe who was saying "moo" on the side of the deck. The "moo" was just a humorous addition.

While being presented with one of many awards as part of the exhibition he was very humble.

It was completely unexpected as there were some absolutely incredible graphics entered. Which just made me even more shocked and thrilled to win.

Hugo plans to re-enter this year’s but hasn’t yet decided what his design will be.

Nina Korgul from Clontarf said last year was also her first time attending a workshop and being entered into the exhibition.

I really enjoyed the workshops and would definitely recommend them to others. It's amazing what you can achieve in only a few hours and it's really good to feel productive.

Nina was inspired by turtles and unbeknown to her it was a blessing her phone died at the workshop because she couldn’t access her photo reference, so creativity really came from the heart. 

Last year I painted a turtle carrying a mountain on its shell. I just used my imagination. I had a bit of an idea about a turtle carrying the world on its shoulders and that was my interpretation.

The news of being awarded the People Choice winner was revealed to her by her mum.

I was so excited when my Mum told me I won the People's Choice award. I love the Posca pens that I won and they've had heaps of use on projects such as my surfboard art. I also love the skateboard decks and I turned one into an actual skateboard so now I need to try and learn how to use it.

Nina says she’s looking forward to going to one of the workshops this year.

I'm re-entering this year because it was such a rewarding experience. It was also fun to go to the exhibition and see what everyone else had done.

Although I have no idea what I'll paint, I'll probably decide on the way there like last year!

This year’s exhibition will be held on 3 April - 17 April, 9am-5pm daily. Additional workshops will also take place during Youth Week (14-17 April) including a fingerboard competition, mini ARTDECKO on fingerboards, a tote bag screen printing workshop and a cap painting workshop.

Don’t miss out on checking out this exhibition which displays the ever growing popularity of skate deck art on the Northern Beaches.

For more information visit northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au