For those who don’t know you or about your instagram page Notes to Strangers (we know, blasphemy) can you give a bit of background on you and how Notes to Strangers started?

I spent the first eight years of my career working in advertising, but that life wasn’t for me – it eventually made me ill and affected my mental health. Notes was a project inspired by that; I wanted to write some words that might help someone who was struggling. It began with leaving small handwritten messages in copies of the Metro on the tube and eventually evolved into street art where I pasted larger notes up onto electrical boxes around London. Now it’s grown into an international project with thousands of notes on the streets of cities around the world.

And now you have a month long residency around Portman Marylebone – the free public art trail Find the Words. How did this collaboration come about? 

Portman Marylebone asked me if I would like to create some art in their neighbourhood for people to stumble upon, hopefully creating some moments of delight. It’s full of wonderful nooks and crannies, beautiful architecture and existing artworks that I was excited to add to. I came up with some ideas, which they were very supportive of and we made it happen together – it was a very collaborative process. 

What can visitors expect when they go for a wander around Portman Marylebone? 

Words of hope and kindness. Big and small. Some that you can’t miss, some that you really have to look for. 

What’s the reaction been to the trail so far?

It’s been amazing and has really made all the hard work to create it worthwhile. I really love it when my work connects with people of all ages and walks of life. People have been sharing lots of pictures of the installations on social media, but perhaps my favourite reactions were the real life interactions when I was installing it. I had conversations with builders on their lunch break, a couple of boxing instructors and the CEO of a finance company which were all sparked from my work. We’re all human at the end of the day, we all have these weird little thoughts and realisations and I love how art has the power to cut right through to our humanness. 

Any tips for finding all the words?

Walk around not looking at your phone! 

We’re particularly loving the large laser cut illuminated messages, was that fun to do as you normally work on a much smaller scale?

They were fun but a real challenge – maybe that’s what made them so much fun! Scale is something that I want to play with some more and I hope as I get further into my artistic career I can make some even bigger pieces. However, I’m more than happy to take things slow and enjoy every step as much as possible and sometimes that means A4 in size.

You left some lovely notes around Glastonbury this year and were invited to talk, how was that? 

Thank you. I adore Glastonbury with all of my heart, it’s just the most wonderful, amazing, exciting and joyous place in the entire world, so how could I resist making some art there?! As for the talk – it was something that never even entered my head as a possibility when I started Notes. Luckily it was hot on the day of my talk and the seats were in the shade. 

Did you have time to see anyone perform while you were there? If so who was the stand out?

I watched as much music as I possibly could, Fred Again was particularly special. I saw him perform live when I was in Buenos Aires, and a part of his set is footage of the streets of London and as I know them so well through my art, I could pinpoint exactly where they were from just a few seconds of footage. Cue floods of happy tears as the beauty of his music combined with me missing London. Then, when I saw him at Glastonbury, the tears flowed again, but this time because he took me back to Argentina. Craig Charles’ Funk and Soul set also got me and my friends dancing for three hours straight – crazy what can happen when the funk sets in! 

You spread a lot of joy through your art, what uplifts you?

Well, making art is one of my all-time favourite things to do everything else is a happy accident. However, I equally love fly fishing. It’s my active rest – it takes me into nature and is the only thing that fully switches off my mind and gives me peace and tranquillity. It’s wonderfully difficult, an art in itself that’s taken me to some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. 

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Everywhere and everything. Inspiration is something that you have to do – you have to go looking for it. It’s like a mode to be in, switching on an antenna or scanning the world. When I’m looking for it, I can find it in all kinds of places – movies, comedy, music, food, a conversation with a DIY shop owner, a random encounter with a dog – it’s honestly everywhere when you know how to search for it. 

What’s your favourite note to a stranger that you have created?

I think my favourite would have to be ‘Good sh*t happens’. It’s my favourite because it was the note that a BBC journalist saw that led to my big break. I wrote it only a couple of hours after I’d turned down a lucrative job offer to keep pursuing my dreams of becoming an artist instead – it was almost like I was asking for something good to happen. Within a few days, my art was the featured story on the BBC homepage. 

And the rest is history! You get about a bit, where are your favourite places in London?

Hot Pod Yoga in Brixton is my secret weapon! I’ve done over 100 classes now and it helps me in so many ways. From my stamina and flexibility for when I’m doing the manual labour part of my art, to the peace of mind and calm it gives me. I also love The Wandle with all of my heart – the chalk stream river that flows through the centre of London, containing all sorts of fish. I’ve spent literally hundreds of hours there. 

Where is the best place you have left a note to a stranger? 

I’ve left one on the side of a helipad on a tiny island off the coast of Colombia. No one has discovered it, and it’s likely no one will, but not impossible.

Obviously we can enjoy the trail until 29 October, but what’s next for you? Any other exciting projects or collaborations you can tell us about that we should look out for?

I’ve just finished a commission for an amazing music festival in Las Vegas called Life is Beautiful. It’s a totally unique festival that takes over a section of the city and they asked me to make some notes for around the site – I made 300. But after that and Find the Words I’m going to be fishing for some time – hopefully in Patagonia, Argentina. 

Aside from Finding the Words around Marylebone, where can people get their mitts on some of your work to take home? 

I don’t always have work on sale, and when I do it often goes very quickly, so if you want to buy something, keep an eye on my Instagram. However, we are going to give some away some notes as part of the Find the Words project around Portman Marylebone businesses – but of course, people have to find them first…

You heard, off you pop to Portman Marylebone where you can Find the Words by Andy Leek until 29 Oct.