Minaw Paint Jam: Grand Canal Dock Dublin

Mar 4

On a bright Saturday in early March, I made my way up to Dublin for a paint jam along the legal walls at Grand Canal Dock, one of those rare spaces where you can show up, paint freely and be part of the ever-changing gallery of Street art there.

There’s a real energy to the canal walls. Layers of work come and go, each piece part of an ongoing conversation. It’s social, collaborative and fleeting in the best way, a place to experiment, meet friends and just enjoy the act of painting outdoors.

I was lucky arriving up after the drive from Leitrim, Anna Doran and Jess Tobin (Novice) had already primed the wall ahead of time. That simple act makes such a massive difference; it removes the hesitation, the guilt of painting over someone else’s work and lets you jump straight into the creative flow.

We were joined by Vanessa Powers aka ‘Signs of Power’ , who is an incredible sign writer who specialises in hand-painted lettering. Watching her work is something else, she builds these large-scale pieces mostly with a brush, freehand, with a level of control and confidence that’s genuinely impressive, especially considering everything was completed in under six hours.
Vanessa, alongside her husband Charlie, painted a collaborative text piece, a single word: Busty, a playful and cheeky nod to International Women’s Day. Her work has such a confident, graphic quality, bold, clean, and full of personality.

Each of us approached the space in our own way.

Anna created a piece inspired by traditional Palestinian folk art, referencing the geometric patterns of tatreez embroidery and using the colours of the Palestinian flag. It felt like a quiet, thoughtful gesture of solidarity, subtle but full of meaning, something rooted in heritage and pattern, rather than overt statement, which felt very in tune with the tone of the day.

Jess aka Novice painted one of her signature pop-art portraits expressive, confident and instantly recognisable in her style.

And I painted a wide-eyed girl with her cat, a piece I’ve come to think of as Snooty Kitty. There’s something a little mischievous in it. The cat curls across her body, covering her just enough to suggest she might be otherwise unclothed, which made Vanessa’s Busty feel like an accidental but perfect companion piece beside it.

That’s one of the things I love most about these paint jams, the way separate works begin to speak to each other, forming unexpected connections across the wall.

Days like this remind me why I love street art so much. It’s not just about the finished piece, it’s about the shared experience, the laughter, the small gestures (like a primed wall waiting for you), and the spontaneous layering of stories along the canal.

Fin