Aerosol artist headed for Hollywood

A Tauranga aerosol artist is making his mark in Hollywood with a deal to spray paint a portrait for stars Ice T and Coco.

Graeme Hoete, known as Mr G, has this week confirmed a deal to spray paint a portrait for E Television stars, American rapper Ice T and his wife Coco, of their bulldog Spartacus.

Tauranga aerosol artist Mr G and his dog Honey at his home-based studio in Papamoa.

The Papamoa resident, who recently completed a world first – spray painting a total of 100 dog portraits, says he is thrilled with the deal and hopes this is just the start of his Hollywood connection.

“Having Coco and Ice T on board is huge, it gives me some leverage now.

“I was watching their show on E and realised how much they love their dog, and I thought – I guarantee they would like a portrait of their dog.”

Mr G contacted Ice T through his website and within an hour heard back from his manager confirming their interest.

“You hardly ever hear back when you post things on these websites, but I just said ‘hey I’m Mr G and I specialise in spray painting dogs, I sent them some examples of my work’.”

The 33-year-old will be spray painting the portrait at his Papamoa home-based studio and expects it will take about six to eight weeks to complete.

This isn’t Mr G’s first portrait for the Hollywood stars.

He has also painted a portrait for the Dog Whisperer - Caesar Millan – and he isn’t about to stop there.

His ultimate goal is to spray paint dog portraits for United States President Barack Obama, talk show hosts Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey, and rocker wife Sharon Osbourne.

“This is a complimentary portrait, I am not getting paid for it, but I did say I will do it on the condition they tell all their friends about the Dogathon.

“I’m planning on approaching Sharon Osbourne, just celebrities that have a genuine love for their dogs.

“Hopefully it will gain momentum over there, through Ice and Coco’s peers and celebrity circles. We have even considered moving there.”

Mr G first embarked on his Dogathon journey two years ago, deciding to spray paint 100 dogs throughout New Zealand to raise money for the SPCA.

Having completed the New Zealand chapter, Mr G is heading over the ditch to start the Australian Dogathon in July.

“I am doing a big tour over there, wanting to do a big dog mural in each city – Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.”

“It’s just letting Aussie know, Mr G has finished 100 dogs in New Zealand and now he is coming to Australia.

“The ultimate goal is to do 10 different countries in the world, a Dogathon in each country.”

Mr G is hoping to present the portrait to Ice T and Coco in person later this year.

Anyone wanting to help Mr G in his journey can contact him through Facebook.