The kindness of strangers and a clear determination to get his mural finished meant after more than a day and night with no sleep Tyler Kennedy Stent was close to finishing his mural yesterday.
The street artist chosen to create a homage to Dunedin artist Ralph Hotere even made it through a period of the Dunedin rain he was dreading on Wednesday night.
Using water-based paints meant rain could have made things go horribly wrong, but Kennedy Stent said he managed to get through the short shower.
He was painting the eyes at the time.
"They did run, but I kept touching them up."
His work on the Dunedin Street Art Trust initiative in Carroll St had been helped by passers-by, including a woman who worked in a nearby cafe who brought him coffee and even breakfast.
"She was so kind."
He had also met a woman who had protested against the Aramoana Smelter planned for Dunedin, the subject of some of Hotere's work.
"It was such an honour to speak to someone who was there."
Yesterday afternoon he was close to finishing, with just a few details to be done, and he planned to finish before day's end, come what may.
"I'll go till I collapse," he said.
