LUAP creates Home Is A Feeling, a Public Art project supporting New Hope Animal Rescue and Furry Friends Animal Rescue. Featuring The Pink Bear with LUAP’s cat Nipper, the project brings together a large-scale Mural and limited-edition Prints to raise funds and awareness for animal welfare.
The project begins with Nipper, LUAP’s cat of more than eleven years and a recurring presence in his Artwork. The source photograph captures Nipper hissing while being held by The Pink Bear, an awkward mix of affection and resistance that quickly became popular when LUAP shared the image online.
Nipper has been there through good days and bad ones, making life, as LUAP puts it, “less empty and more snuggly”, aside from the occasional bite that earned the cat the name in the first place. LUAP wanted the image to do something for animals still waiting for a home of their own.
Working with a friend involved with animal charities, LUAP approached New Hope Animal Rescue and Furry Friends Animal Rescue. Both organisations care for animals that can be difficult to rehome, including those with medical or behavioural needs.
LUAP developed the Mural with his friend and collaborator DDRegalo, reworking the photographic image of The Pink Bear and Nipper through paint and scale for public space. The words HOME IS A FEELING, introduced by DDRegalo, became central to the work.
Installed beside the football pitches on Market Road in London, the Mural sits behind a tall metal fence. The bars cut across the image, creating an unexpected visual connection to animals waiting in shelters and giving the phrase added weight.
HOME IS A FEELING shifts the idea of home away from a building or address towards care, security and attachment. With Nipper held by The Pink Bear, that idea remains rooted in a real relationship.
The project also extends into limited-edition Prints developed through Screen Print, Acrylic and hand-finished marks, with proceeds helping support the two charities.
Home Is A Feeling is supported by Market Road Gallery, ArteMea and Forest Recycling Project, which supplied reclaimed paint for the Mural.
