Here at ISHKA we thrive amidst a world of colour, culture and creative spirit.

Explore any one of our stores where you’ll find fascination at every turn – through bold designs that push the boundaries of imagination, to unexpected, one-of-a-kind products inspired by nature, spirituality and beyond.

It is this spirit of wonder and awe we sought to capture with an eye-catching mural in our new Clayton Superstore, as well as on a new truck that recently joined our ever-growing fleet. The brief? Bold. Surprising. Colourful. Unmistakably ISHKA. And we were blown away with the results!

So we thought we’d have a chat to the two talented tattoo artists behind each mural, Zach and Ollie, to find out what they love about ISHKA, and what inspires their artwork.

What are your backgrounds as artists?

Zach: I have been painting graffiti art for around 17 years now and drawing ever since I can remember. I have been tattooing for around 10 years at Dynamic Tattoo in Richmond. I grew up in New Zealand and moved to Melbourne after the earthquakes destroyed my business in 2011.

Ollie:  My background as an artist lies mainly in graffiti. I’ve been doing that consistently for 19 years now. More recently, for the past 8 years, I’ve been tattooing full time.

What inspires your graffiti and tattoo designs?

Zach: My close friends are my inspiration – they keep me motivated to push everything I do to the next level. I’m super lucky to be surrounded by some of the most talented people around. Travel also keeps me inspired. Recently I visited Nepal and Japan – the art there is absolutely amazing!

Ollie: My main inspirations have always been my talented artist friends around me. In regards to tattooing, I’m a big fan of traditional American and Japanese tattoo styles.

What was the main inspiration behind the ISHKA murals you created?

Zach: Just spending time in the shop, surrounded by the beautiful colours and patterns from around the world. It all tied in well with what we love.

Ollie: The ISHKA artworks Zach and I have created were inspired by the type of tattoo designs we are passionate about – ideas that are unique, bold and alive with colour.

How long did it take you to complete each ISHKA mural?

Zach: The store mural was around 24 hours in total, and the truck just under that. It was super tricky painting at such a large scale as well. Being able to control spray paint makes it pretty fast though…I can’t even imagine how long it would take with a brush!

Have you painted any other interesting murals?

Zach: We have painted walls and murals all over – from New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Nepal and Australia just to name a few. We’ve also painted feature walls in people’s homes as well as art shows and exhibitions.

Ollie:  Being involved in creating the ISHKA murals was good fun and a bit of a challenge! We’re definitely keen to do more of that type of artwork in future.

Be sure to visit our new Clayton Superstore to see this wonderful mural for yourself, and keep an eye out for our new ISHKA truck colouring highways across Australia!

If you love Zach and Ollie’s artwork as much as we do and want to get in touch, you can find them here:

Zach: http://zachharttattoo.virb.com/ Insta: @zachharttattoo

Ollie:  https://www.facebook.com/tattoo.ollie/ Insta: @tattoo.ollie

Photography by RibbonsandPaperPhotography for ISHKA and Jaynelle Lording.