Artist Blake Pollard pictured with his dad Brian.
A splash of colour and creativity has brought new energy to Boorowa’s main street with the completion of a vibrant mural on the side of Shaun’s Fresh Café.
The artwork, which now graces the heart of the town, features a lively depiction of local beauty, sheep grazing in paddocks, a platypus paddling through a stream, a superb parrot in mid-flight, golden honeycomb, buzzing bees, and even a whimsical purple birdhouse tucked into the corner.
The artist behind the mural is Blake Pollard, a self-taught spray paint muralist from Western Sydney, who says the project is one of his proudest. “I love it. I’m very lucky and very grateful for what I do,” Blake says. “From what I know, it’s one of the biggest artworks in town. For me, again, that’s just another achievement.”
Blake, who runs a mural business called Long Story Short, was contacted by café owners Kim and Paul after they saw his earlier work on another Boorowa project. “I did a job in Boorowa about four or five years ago at Penrose Smash Repairs,” Blake explains. “I painted two small window panels, utes driving into a Boorowa scene. That’s how Kim and Paul from the cafe got my details. They had a concept in mind for the café wall, and I helped bring it to life.” The final result is both bold and detailed, catching the eye of anyone walking or driving past. It’s more than just paint on a wall; it’s a visual celebration of Boorowa’s natural environment and rural identity.
Blake’s journey to becoming a professional artist has been anything but traditional. “To be honest, I used to be a graffiti artist a long time ago,” he shares. “I had my first child 17 years ago, and from that moment on, I stopped doing the illegal side of it. I followed the passion through and through. Now, I’m 42 nearly 43 and I’ve made a career out of what I love.”
Like many small businesses, Blake’s professional journey took off during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I always had a couple of jobs here and there over the years, but it wasn’t until COVID hit that I thought, let’s go full time,” he says. “Since then, I haven’t stopped.” The mural on Shaun’s Café took about three and a half to four days to complete from Friday the 4th until Monday the 7th, all done entirely with spray cans, Blake’s tool of choice.
While many muralists diversify their techniques with airbrushes or brushes, Blake remains loyal to the spray can. “Everything I do is all spray can,” he says. “I’m self-taught, and I’ve kind of been arrogant in a way that I refuse to pick up anything else. I just keep pushing myself to see how far I can go with it.”
His business now sees him travelling interstate, taking on jobs from Queensland to Melbourne, from children’s bedrooms to commercial swim schools.
“There’s no limit to what we can do. Some jobs take a day, others a few weeks, depending on the size and level of detail,” he explains.
For Boorowa, this mural represents more than a new artistic feature. It’s a point of pride for the community and a reminder of the region’s connection to nature and agriculture, something Blake clearly understood and respected in his work.
“I get paid to do what I love, and I never take that for granted,” he says. “That piece in Boorowa, it’s not just a job, it’s art and it’s a privilege.”
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