Hello everyone
This is Matt Uren A.K.A Manta Turret. Matt was born in January of 1980 in Truro, raised in Penzance but now lives in a little town called Saint Austell in Cornwall of the United Kingdom.
When talking to Matt about how he got involved in art he said to us he had always loved to draw and doodle from a very young age. When he was at secondary school his teacher did not feed his creativity. This was due to the style of Mats work. This happens to a lot of young artist when heading through that first educational step. It is something to watch out for if becoming an artist. First rule don’t give up.
Matt is hugely inspired by street culture; from music to fashion also the area he grew up in has a part to play on his inspirations when creating.
“Penwith has such a large amount of artistic people crammed into a small, beautiful, sea battered area.”
When talking to artists we like to ask them how they work because every artist is different and unique. This is what Manta Turret said.
“I like to doodle to get the ideas flowing but a lot of the time I jump straight to adobe illustrator and start making marks. I and the pen tool have become very good friends over the years.”
Manta Turret works as a single unit but he is looking to do more collaborations or community projects this year in 2016. So if you are reading this and think you have a project his contact details will be at the bottom of this page. The words he used were.
“It’s great to spend that time with like minded creative’s.”
He also has a print shop that has just gone live and has done freelance design jobs for a verity of different companies from around the United Kingdom.
He is a self taught artist because of the lack of inspiration and support of his art teacher at school Matt said he had given up with idea of having a career in the artist industry. He kept drawing as a hobby. This is what he had to say.
“A friend of mine kept saying I should try out adobe illustrator & photoshop (thanks Jan). Eventually I got hold of a copy (Donated by a friendly pirate) and tried it out. I soon realized that this was where I wanted my artwork to be. I have spent the last six years practicing in my free time trying to find the style I'm happiest with while still working a full time job. I’ve invested in new computers and software and done lots of free work for friends but now feel confident I’m at a level to be taken seriously.”
His work speaks for its self and we also think it is time to take another hidden artist seriously!
(Click image for slide show)
Every artist has different role models. A path that is their own when asking Manta Turret about his interests of others he had a wide range of others to talk about. This is important because there is always someone one new you may never heard of.
“I think the artist I have to give the most credit is Jared Nickerson AKA J3 Concepts. His artwork made me see what was possible with the program and a lot of my early work was heavily influenced by his. Others are 123Klan, Nychos, Richt, 45rpm, Travis price, Chez Meka, I have to stop there before this gets out of hand but anybody out there making good of their creative side is an inspiration…..”
(Click Manta Turret logo to head over to his website.)
So there you have it an insight into the mind of Matt Uren a self taught inspiration. We hope you enjoyed reading and that it may lead to a discovery of your own.
Manta Turret
Illustration / Design
Instagram @mantaturret
Twitter @mantaturret