SHOPPERS in Southend's High Street may recently have been enjoying the fantastic piece of artwork depicting the Christmas Grinch on the boards outside the post office.

The artist behind it is a busy chap. Nik Vaughn is his real name, although a lot of the time he goes by his DJ/musician/music producer moniker Mr Frisbee. When he isn't being commissioned to do artwork, which could be anything from street art to set design, he might be making soundtracks, filming, or running workshops in schools, or playing in any of the number of bands he is in, or even working on his t-shirt design label which is coming out in the New Year.

"I don't really tend to tell people what I do for a living, because it isn't one thing, so there isn't an easy way to describe it" says the 48-year-old Southend based dad of six. "Every day is very different. I like a bit of variety."

He certainly does. For example, he has not long finished work as head scenic artist for Warner Brothers on their forthcoming film the Justice League Experience which was followed by a great time working on pop sensation Sam Smith's album launch at the Tate modern. Currently he is working on the sets for the World Championships of Clash Royale, which is a massive live gaming competition with £150,000 prize. He is also working on and advert for Quorn, he is illustrating a couple of books and is about to start working on an album with chap hop artist Professor Elemental.

The Grinch artwork came by way of a commission from the Southend BID (Business Improvement District),who wanted some Santas painted up by the boarded up post office. Nik decided to go with the Grinch.

"I think street art these days is a lot more acceptable than it used to be seen as" said Nik, "it makes towns more vibrant, so there is a lot more commissioned work in it. I work a lot with Scotty Brave. [A renowned street artist, also from Southend]."

It was the world of graffiti and hip hop that turned Nik onto his creative career.

"I was never very academic at school but it was all the elements of hip hop really that helped me to find what I was good at when I was about 15 or 16. I started off painting trains and racking paint. At least these days I get paid for what I'm doing and don't have to do that any more.

"Somewhere along the line I knew I had to find a way to make money at the things I did. Now it's a case of having to, what with providing for six children."

Surprisingly Nik doesn't really spend too much time promoting himself.

"I'm not really good at that, and don't tend to bother with it. I'm 48 and have been working a long time and I tend to find one door leads to another, without having to promote myself too much. If it needs to be done, my wife is much better at taking care of that side of things for me. She is certainly the organ grinder when it comes to looking after our business."

This laissez faire approach obviously works and it's fair to say those with an eye drawn to art, will have most likely seen Nik's work around town at some point.

To next catch him with his musician hat on you can see him joining the Dirty Fairies (perhaps true to nature he is a multi instrumentalist, but in this case, will be playing the conga), at Peggy Sue's Music Bar, London Road, Leigh, on December 29.

To look at any of his other work, search for him on social media under Mr Frisbee or Nik Vaughn.