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For years, Matt Dey was told there was no future for him in art, but a chance request to paint faces at a family birthday party reignited the passion he had put aside as a child. Now a full-time artist, Matt paints all around the south Wales valleys with vibrant murals.
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The Valleys Briefing
(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys. Anytime you have something you’d like to share, no matter how big or small, email laurencrosbymedlicott@gmail.com):
Wildfires. The last two weeks have been absolutely devastating. We’ve heard about wildfires every single day. The military was called in to support South Wales Fire and Rescue Service. We are going to be covering the ongoing impact of the fires in the coming weeks, so please do reach out at laurencrosbymedlicott@gmail.com if you and your community have been impacted.
Caerphilly County Borough Council has taken enforcement action to evict a tenant from a council-owned property in Rhymney following serious breaches of their occupation contract. The action was taken by the Council’s Caerphilly Homes Anti-Social Behaviour Team, working in partnership with Gwent Police, after the tenant was convicted of offences relating to the supply of Class A drugs.
The conviction followed a police investigation which resulted in the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of the contract holder. Following the conviction, Caerphilly Homes commenced possession proceedings against the contract holder, resulting in their eviction from the property. Councillor Shayne Cook, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “Residents should not have to tolerate criminal activity or anti-social behaviour near their homes or in their communities. Eviction is always a last resort, but where serious breaches of an occupation contract take place, we will take firm action to protect residents and our communities.”
Work on the restoration of one of Wales’ most important Jewish heritage sites is due to start next year thanks to grants from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns programme. The project will restore the Grade II-listed synagogue in Merthyr Tydfil, widely regarded as the most significant Jewish heritage site in Wales, and create a permanent centre celebrating the contribution of Welsh Jewish communities to the country’s social, cultural and economic life. The synagogue, which overlooks Merthyr town centre, is the only surviving purpose-built historic synagogue in Wales. Once home to a thriving Jewish congregation, it closed as a place of worship in 1983 as the local Jewish population declined.
“Don’t let anyone stop you”: How a valleys artist turned a childhood passion into a full-time career
As a child growing up in the south Wales valleys, Matt Dey’s “thing” was art. “I’d come home from school and draw,” the now 51-year-old living in Hengoed told The Valleys Lead. “I bought comics relentlessly and copied the artwork. It was a way I could think, a way to express myself.”
But when he left school, a career advisor told Matt that there wouldn’t be a career for him in the art world.
“My dream of leaving school to do what I wanted was immediately smashed,” he said.
Matt wouldn’t draw again until he was nearly 40.
Instead, he spent years jumping from job to job. “I could never really find my feet,” he said. “The first job I had was at a factory. My father was a miner, and his father a miner. The family history was mining – no one ever went outside that box to think of doing anything else. But when I left school, all the mines had shut, so I went straight to a factory.”
He’d always been told that after school, he could go into the “big, wide world” and do whatever he wanted. “I quickly found that the big, wide world is a factory in Penallta.”
Matt didn’t stay at the factory long, but subsequent jobs didn’t give him any sort of fulfilment.
“And then about nine years ago, my sister asked me to paint faces at my niece’s birthday party because I used to be good at art,” he said. “I jokingly agreed to it and even had a ‘Uncle Matt’s Face Painting’ t-shirt printed.”
Matt’s art career took off from that party – he very quickly became known internationally for his face painting.
When the pandemic hit, and there weren’t any in-person parties to face paint at, Matt’s re-found love of painting had to find a new avenue. He started spray painting the walls and windows of people who lived in his street with their permission, at first only asking that people cover the price of materials.
“It got me out of the house for a couple of hours a day,” he said.
As lockdown restrictions eased, people increasingly asked Matt to paint faces, walls, homes, garages, and windows. He became so successful that in October 2025, he gave up his job in sales to paint full-time.
Matt said that art has this way of uplifting people – something we in the valleys can always use a bit of. “Why look at a plain, tarnished, boring wall when you can look at something bright and cheerful?” he asked. “People will pass it, and they’ll smile.”
But in the south Wales valleys, Matt explained that there aren’t many “legal walls” like there are in cities.
