Ryan Moore has been drawing on the decks of his skateboards since he was a teenager.
Now aged 37, he is still at it and starting to make a name for himself in the world of art.
Moore lives in Oamaru and is a stay-at-home father of three young children - Goldie (5), Coco (3) and Buddy (1).
Growing up in Oamaru, art and skateboarding filled his time.
''I've skateboarded since I was 11 years old and when I was in my late teens I started drawing on top of my skateboards,'' he said.
Initially, he used various colours of acrylic paint, but ''they never really worked''.
''I had too much value in a skateboard that I never wanted to deface them,'' he said.
Then, he started experimenting with Twink pens, dotting it on and smearing it with his fingers.
He ''naturally'' moved into stencilling and every time he got a new skateboard, he refined his method.
He cuts multiple stencils, then uses one can of matte white paint with varying applications to create the grey scales.
He started to create framed works on a similar non-slip industrial product, as he was restricted by the size of skateboards.
''That has a matte black finish and a larger size capacity - I really enjoy the depth it creates,'' he said.
He has experimented with other mediums, but he likes how distinctive his skateboard and framed ''Gripart'' is.
''Good art is like good music - when you hear it, you know who it is; there's something instantly recognisable about it,'' he said.
Moore has focused on stencilling unsung heroes, such as Jack O'Neill, credited with inventing the wetsuit.
''For everything that stencil art stands for, it's been abused - it's musicians, famous people and I just kind of wanted to steer away from that,'' he said.
Sir Edmund Hillary, Sir Paul Holmes, Steve Irwin, Billy T. James, Sir Peter Blake, Robert Falcon Scott, Nigel Latta, Ayrton Senna and electric fence inventor Bill Gallagher have also graced the grip-tape for skateboards.
His portrait of Gallagher sold for $10,000 and was presented to the Gallagher Group at its 75th anniversary celebrations last year.
Before that, the most a piece of his art had fetched was $220.
He took a lot of inspiration from stencilling after he moved to London with his partner Shannon in 2002.
''[Stencil art] was everywhere and it just fascinated me,'' he said.
He worked as a site fitter in London - first at the Prince of Wales Theatre to prepare for the opening of the Mamma Mia! stage show, then at Wembley Stadium for a year.
''I was working at Kings Cross when the London bombings happened, which was crazy - that was a bizarre day,'' he said.
Six years ago, they decided to move back home.
''I remember walking out of the toilets of a [London] pub and looking at myself in the mirror and was like 'wow, I'm older' and `I could carry on doing this forever, but time is passing me by','' he said.
Within a year of moving back to Oamaru, he and Shannon had bought a house, got married and had their first child.
Moore continued to ''soldier away'' with his art in his own time, never really trying to sell or promote himself.
Self-taught, he has refined his craft by trial and error over many years.
His work has had limited exposure, but he would like to have ''some kind of exhibition'' one day.
He has sold many items online - he likes the flexibility and accessibility of it.
''I've had lots of lucky things happen where selling one piece [online] for next to nothing gives me some link to something else,'' he said.
This year, he has been working on commission pieces.
Being a full-time stay-at-home parent was both rewarding and draining.
''It's quite out of it how I'm seen by a lot of people. I'll be told at least once a week by a middle-aged woman to get a job and support my family,'' he said.
''For what it's worth, we don't live a role-reversal life - we live an alternative lifestyle where we do things together.''
When the children are all at school, he would like to focus on his craft full-time.
''I would like to try and make a living out of it eventually, but with three kids 5 and under, my time will come,'' he said.rebecca.ryan@odt.co.nz
