MOVE over Banksy. A group of guerilla grannies armed with spray cans are making their own mark in Byron Bay.
Hot on the heels of the anonymous UK-based graffiti artist, the silver-haired spray painters were part of a graffiti art project in the town called Popped, a public space and creative activation program bringing together arts and surf culture.
Joining celebrated local street artists who go by the names of nitsua, Teazer, Burg, Shmik and Basix as well as live DJs, the tagging retirees (all residents at Feros Care retirement villages) grabbed their spray paint to create street art in Byron's 'Surf Alley' as part of the Popped laneway event sponsored by Feros Care.
Retired architect Hugh Webster said "normally I wouldn't like this sort of stuff...and here I am helping to make Byron Bay a colourful place."
The artistic residents had such a blast creating street art for the festival, they went on to have a special graffiti workshop with one of Byron Bay's most talented street artists Davey Mac (aka Teazer).
After a tour of his Stay Gold studio, Davey took the residents on a bus tour of street art sites around Byron Bay and graffiti spray-can experience.
Nina Marzi described the street art as "beautiful". "All the colours are wonderful, I had no idea there was so much graffiti art in Byron Bay, I think it is magnificent," she said.
Fellow resident Rae White said, "the artists certainly make it look easy but it really was hard to just press the nozzle and just create a circle."
Feros Village Byron Bay care manager Grescha Brewer said she was "stoked" Feros Care was involved in Popped, adding that the residents had a fabulous day on their workshop.
"None of the residents had even touched a spray can let alone use one before this. They love their new understanding of graffiti art and the connection it gave them to the younger generation, and are now constantly on the lookout for more art. It's surprising how much there actually is in town," she said.
"One resident Nina fell in love with Davey, while Fran got tagging down to a fine art. Meanwhile Rae wasn't enjoying the fumes as much as the others, but was pretty thrilled by her work behind a spray can and limited seating meant that we had to improvise for another resident Doreen."