"It's kept me in line," Jesse (17) said yesterday, while showing a spectacular and colourful mural he recently spray-painted on the public toilets in the playground at the Oamaru Public Gardens.
And there was "no way" he would go back to his old tagging days, he said.
"I've found my place now and I'm loving it."
He had a stern message for taggers vandalising property, saying he was sick of it.
"It gives us a bad name. People that tag don't know what graffiti art is all about."
Jesse jumped at the opportunity when asked if he would redo the mural on the toilets after it had been tagged.
As well as depicting some Winnie the Pooh characters and Sponge Bob Squarepants, it also included some of his own creations.
The paint was supplied by the Waitaki District Council through the community safety programmes.
Jesse said it gave him a "good feeling" when children rushed up to the mural and tried to touch it.
While he has "graffitied" since he was in year 9, Jesse has been painting with a spraycan for the past year and a-half.
With his tagging behind him, Jesse said he was "more into artistic".
"A lot of people are stereotypical about it. I'm trying to put it in a positive light and it's working out well. The public seems to like it," he said.
Jesse, who is completing an automotive airbrushing course at the Oamaru campus of Aoraki Polytechnic, said he he had always loved to draw.
He has done a mural in the car park at Countdown and donations were being collected at Soul Surf and Skate to buy paint to complete another mural in the car park. He was also painting at the skate park next week.
Jesse planned to get a part-time job so he could buy his own paint "and paint whenever I want".
And it did not matter whether it was murals or people's bedrooms - he spray-painted whenever he got a chance.
"It makes me strive to get better every time I paint. It's awesome, I'm loving it. I can't get enough of it," he said.
In the future, Jesse said there were "heaps of different avenues" to explore, including murals and possibly a clothing brand.
Waitaki community safety officer Alison Banks said she was very proud of Jesse.
"I think he's come a long way, he's matured heaps. He's been given opportunities and he's making the most of them."
