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Artist&nbsp;Maddy Butcheris a firm favourite on the regional art and music scene, Dubai Night caught up with this colourful character to find out more&hellip; 
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What has been happening in your world recently? 
I&rsquo;ve just finished a big mural for the new W Hotel on The Palm, a project for ENOC and 3 canvases for a restaurant called El Sur at The Westin. It&rsquo;s supposed to be quiet this time of year, but I&rsquo;m busy which is always good!&nbsp; 
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Where did you study or is art something that you have always had a flair for? 
I studied at Edinburgh College of Art, and lived in Scotland for 6 years. On my first week, the tutor said &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no point in painting something you can take a photo of&rdquo; &ndash; and I took him literally and fell out of love with art because I liked painting realistically then. Now I agree with him. Moving to Dubai and spraying with people I met at Hip Hop nights got me back into painting, and for a few years I did commissions that were always what brands asked for &ndash; but now, by going back to the love of it, I&rsquo;ve found my own style, and I feel like my heart is leading me more than my head.&nbsp; 
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If you had to choose one, what artist has been most influential in your development as an artist? 
That&rsquo;s impossible! There&rsquo;s far too many! And if it was just one &ndash; my work might morph into that person&rsquo;s style. If there&nbsp;had&nbsp;to be one &ndash; I&rsquo;d say Fathima Mohiuddin &ndash; not just because she&rsquo;s one of my closest friends, but because she&rsquo;s shown me it&rsquo;s possible to find a balance between fluctuating levels of creativity and a steady work ethic and also the importance of developing your own style &ndash; even if it&rsquo;s not what brands or clients have in mind. I&rsquo;m always erratic, and she showed me that that&rsquo;s OK &ndash; I can still get things done, and the best results are worth fighting for.&nbsp; 
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Is this still the case or do your influences constantly evolve? 
I think it&rsquo;s crucial to keep evolving as a painter, singer, writer or taxi driver. To vary your sources and never stop feeding your brain. Boredom, inertia and Social Media are the biggest killers of creativity in terms of time-stealing, but also the portal into so many ways to be inspired.&nbsp; 
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Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what do you prefer to listen to when you work? 
100%. A lot of my abstract pieces are direct translations of music &ndash; new or old jazz, African Funk, a bit of Abu Dhabi Classic FM, and Drum and Bass. Not techno. 
I also listen to a lot of spoken word &ndash; Comedians or BBC Radio 4 &ndash; because art involves a lot of time by yourself &ndash; and if its just you, a paintbrush, and every conversation that normally runs through your mind, you&rsquo;d overthink everything and be an absolute nutcase.&nbsp; 
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What do you find being the most challenging aspect about being a working artist in Dubai? 
Brands and Marketers only want to do what&rsquo;s been done. I get weekly requests for Calligraffiti, the Dubai Skyline, 3D Art or ripping off other artist&rsquo;s styles. If you want to work with an artist &ndash; utilise their uniqueness and then everyone benefits. Then real stories start to happen and not marketing initiatives.&nbsp; 
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But there really is an element of trust with art too. If I&rsquo;m going to do a huge painting &ndash; you can&rsquo;t expect a perfect digital representation of it before I start &ndash; you have to trust the standard I produce and the style I&rsquo;ve shown you I can create. Otherwise I&rsquo;m doing two paintings for half the cost &ndash; and that is a lot more time intensive, and personal, than asking a designer to make the logo bigger.&nbsp; 
 
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&nbsp;What piece of art that you have created are you most proud of? 
I would say the W on The Palm &ndash; for now. I have a film coming up about it. The piece is called &ldquo;Melting Pot&rdquo; &ndash; and it&rsquo;s about the mix of cultures in Dubai that compliment, juxtapose and often define each other. I&rsquo;ve learned so much in this town &ndash; not through hanging out with other Brits in Barasti, but by pushing my comfort zones and learning about other narratives that add colour to mine.&nbsp; 
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What do you have coming up that we should look out for? 
I&rsquo;m not allowed to say, because it&rsquo;s for someone very important, but it&rsquo;s exciting and I feel proud to be involved.&nbsp; 
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To keep up to date with all of Maddy&rsquo;s fantastic work head over to&nbsp;<a href="http://maddybutcher.squarespace.com/">maddybutcher.squarespace.com</a>.</div>

CREATIVE INDUSTRY: MADDY BUTCHER

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CREATIVE INDUSTRY: MADDY BUTCHER

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