Mark Anthony, aka ATM, has created many murals for in and around Acton. Some of his works are currently being featured in the Acton Mural Trail.

Who/What inspired you to pursue a career as a creative? What led you to street art specifically? Did you receive any formal training in art or pursue other mediums before you found your path in life?

I’ve always loved drawing and painting, for as long as I can remember. I just always wanted to be an artist. I didn’t see it as a career but rather something I just wanted to keep on doing by whatever means I could.

I came to street art through a series of happy coincidences. I was doing some voluntary work with Acton Arts Forum setting up the new W3 gallery, and we got the opportunity to do some street art on the old South Acton Estate, to work with local residents to try to improve the aesthetics of the area and include them in art production. That’s when I first started painting my large-scale birds and other endangered species. I hadn’t realised before that I could paint these big pieces, using acrylic paint and brushes rather than spray paints, in just a few days.

Mark Anthony aka ATM with his grey partridge mural

Before that, I had used street art stencils and written text to protest the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and the commercialisation of street art.

I spent five years at three different art colleges, though to describe it as formal training is stretching it a bit. There was a lot of talk about painting being dead. When I was at art college, it was the heyday of conceptualism, and each student was expected to invent their own style and ‘language’ and be original above all else. I, however, was more interested in the history of art and studying the work of the great artists of the past and trying to understand how they achieved their effects. I got most of this information from spending hours in the library researching old books.

Can you describe any significance of the name ATM and your current work focusing on endangered animals?

The name ATM originated when a group of us used it for street art protests and interventions concerning the themes mentioned above. It was a play on the meaning of ATM as a machine spewing cash and our name meaning Anarchist Trouble Makers. So we were protesting about the mainstream abuse of power.

Do you create any work outside of your large-scale street art projects?

I do a lot of work aside from street art. I’ve painted a series of endangered species on banknotes, showing the relationship between exploitation and destruction and money. I like to paint on found objects such as interesting pieces of wood or metal. I also paint pictures on canvas and wooden panels.

Hope Gardens, collaboration with Karen Francesca

What do you find people are drawn to the most in your artwork?

They like its scale and its realism. People often tell me my subjects look as if they are alive, which is the highest praise for me, as my main aim is to communicate their vitality and character, to show their unique energy and significance. They are also very curious about the species I depict, as they often don’t know what they are or that they used to live in that location and are now often endangered.

Where did you grow up? What brought you to west London?

I grew up in a town in the North West. I had the benefit of access to the wooded valleys and moors around the old mill towns, so I experienced both the urban and patches of wild nature from a young age. As soon as I finished my art degree in Sheffield, I moved down to London to seek my fortune as an artist! I ended up in West London by chance, after staying with a friend nearby after returning from a few years living in Berlin.

How have the various lockdowns affected your work? Do you find it harder to create? Have things slowed down or sped up?

I found the first lockdown very strange. All my work suddenly stopped, and there was a sense of every day being the same, as there was no contrast between work days and rest days. There was the additional uncertainty of not knowing how seriously to take the danger of the virus and being worried about seeing people. The hardest thing for me was the lack of structure for the days and weeks. It was possible to sit around and do nothing for days on end and it didn’t matter. Time seemed to be stretched and drawn out but at the same time pass quickly because there was so little contrast between days. The best thing about the first lockdown was the lack of noise and traffic. I remember walking around Richmond Park listening to the birdsong as never before, as there were no planes overhead, no cars and no cyclists! It was beautiful. As time has gone on, I’ve managed to live as normal a life as possible, working on collaborative pieces with other artists. Things are getting back to normal now with work as people return from furlough and organisations start engaging in outreach work again.

What do you envisage for the future of your work? Have personal/professional plans changed since 2020?

My plans have not really changed. I still want to paint street art in as many interesting and diverse places as possible to help make people aware of environmental matters of importance and hopefully add to changes in behaviour and positive shifts in the culture of how we view and care for other species.

What are some of your favourite local spots/businesses? What do you love to do in your free time/on your days off of work?

I like the small parks around Acton; I found them a life-saver during the lockdown, the opportunity to watch the changing seasons and the processes of nature, even if only in a small area of a few trees or a little area of wildflower planting, was a great support.

I like the fresh food stalls on Acton market, you can get a big bowl of veg or fruit for £1 and there’s a really good Indian vegetarian and Lebanese grill.

In my free time, I love to go off travelling in nature, with a tent and all I need on my back, just to experience the different seasons and landscapes.

Do you have a favourite artist or piece of art (music/book/photography etc.) right now?

I really like the work of Phlegm; he does great street art but has also been producing a beautiful series of miniatures during the lockdown.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to turn their creativity into a career? What advice would you give to those aspiring to street art specifically?

I think the main necessary quality for anyone wanting to turn their creativity into a career is perseverance. A few might get lucky and make it straight away, but more often than not it is a long and difficult path. One has to be prepared for multiple rejections and disappointments. It’s important not to compare oneself with the success of others. It’s important to remain true to one’s own inspiration and love and not to be swayed by the fashions of the time. It might be necessary to compromise sometimes and do work one is not comfortable with, as valuable lessons can be learned and experiences gained that way. Some people manage to produce their work in their spare time, for example, writing a novel while working as a taxi driver, though I always needed all my energy for painting, so I found it difficult to do other work alongside that.

The important thing for a street artist is to find as many walls as possible to paint on and be productive. It takes time to get used to working at scale and learning how best to use spaces, so, as with all art, the main ingredient is constant practice and productivity.