HappyFt Travels

Book my tour and see the fruits of my labors!

Russell’s Mural Project from vayable on Vimeo.

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Blek le Rat, the “godfather” of stencil graffiti commemorates 30 years creating art on the streets with the launch of new retrospective from Art Publishing, Ltd.

http://www.artpublishingltd.com/new/

http://www.artpublishingltd.com/bleklerat.html

This retrospective features the artist’s private family photos, point and shoot images of his graffiti artwork from around the world, and full-color reproductions of his gallery pieces. The book is separated into two distinct sections: “Street Art” and “Fine Art,” both of which are augmented by the writing of celebrated scholars, critics, experts in relevant fields, fellow artists, journalists, collectors and gallerists. Lavishly illustrated with more than 200 images, “Blek le Rat,” the 30 year anniversary retrospective offers the first full history of this seminal artist’s tradition and legacy, featuring:
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Tags: blek, Creations, Stencil Nation, writing
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Spent the past week down on Folsom St., in the fog up on a ladder, painting a sign with Chris Benfield. Justin Fraser just changed his business name from digipop to Mission Web Works. We finished the first sign on the Folsom St. facade today, so I took some photos of the work. Chris and I already have another job lead. Justin asked me “what’s your sign business name?” hmm. After several hours of brainstorming while up ladders, Chris and I were still undecided. Two women walked by and one looked up at us and said “You sure do have steady hands!”

So Steady Hands it is. Ready to stencil and pounce our way through the Bay.

[u] well, Chris googled Steady Hands and a guy in Walnut Creek has that name. So we’re still working on a name. Stay tuned….

Tags: Creations, Steady Hands Sings, stencils
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Was hanging out with Al and Antonio last Saturday for what ended up being a random, spontaneous night of laughter. Antonio started asking Al about content for his website and we then brainstormed some animation ideas about the logo. Al’s calling his site “VirtuAL’S” which was why we laughed so much. Anyway, I had an idea for making a “money” logo for Al, especially since money is what keeps kicking his ass all around Market Street.

Got the urge tonight, probably since I was painting stencils earlier today, to make the logo. It’s fun!

Al's Comics Money Logo

I put it in that square for Al’s Facebook usage. I Googled “color of money” and got the CMYK mix for this green. The font is “United States” which is kinda like the dollar bill font. The bubbly font is from a San Diego Comicon font site. Or a geek comics font site. I just deleted all the links so just feel like guessing.

Tags: Creations
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Nice jpg flyer designed by Pirate Vereker (with a bit o’ help from me)

Tags: cellspace, Creations
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CELL:15
CELLspace’s Week-Long 15th Birthday Celebration

Since 1996 “The Best Multiuse Facility” (SF Guardian) in San Francisco has played host to every type of artistic, creative project imaginable. CELLspace has enabled tens of thousands of artists and spectators to experience the rich creative culture of the Bay Area. To rejoice in these past 15 years of providing “a safe and supportive public environment for the exploration of art, education, performance and community building”, the artists, workers, and volunteers of 2050 Bryant would like to invite you all to spend some time with us during the first week of May. We have something for everyone so hope to see you at the space that is CELLspace.

Please visit www.cellspace.org for updates and more details.

At Every Class and Event
Raffle tickets will be on sale, giving away prizes form local businesses (see list below). Raffle to be drawn at the Action Jackson show on Saturday. You do not need to be present to win!
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Tags: cellspace
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The Tower of Transformation is an Installation/Interactive portable art piece for the Burning Man 2011 theme-Rites of Passage. Based on a Balinese cremation tower in form and intent, it will be modified for presentation in Black Rock City

In place of traditional Balinese gold leaf designs, the tower will be covered in stencils by contemporary street artists from Bali, Java, the U.S. and Europe. It will also contain a contemporary shadow puppet theater

Participants will be invited to join the Tower in procession around Burning Man, adding their sentiments about the Rites of Passage in their own experience to the piece through writing on or artistic modification to the tower.

Tags: Burning Man 2011, Creations, Puppets, stencils, Tower of Transformation
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Ah… FaceBook sucks all my creative energy. Thus tolls the blog bell. Haven’t posted pics on here lately because of the ease on FB. Share TO the world rather than have them come find it. Spending more time up in Mendocino county on some land that the Noyo River runs through. Rained five inches when I was there a few weeks ago! The land is so alive; the river fast and furious. A bear visits sometimes. Salmon are said to like the Noyo. No industry along this river which cracks out of the hills and heads to the Pacific.

Here are four photos I took this past visit. Morel mushrooms! Yum. Lichen loving a rotting log. A rusting piece of farm equipment in a field in front of second growth redwoods. And the flooded banks of the Noyo.

Tags: Creations, photos
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Had a fun time painting this one up on Haight St. this past week. When the weather was sunny, between those rainy days, I painted, met neighbors, chatted with tourists, was documented by photographers and videographers, and had some friends wander by. I also met a few stencils artists wandering by. Good times had by all. What was once an ugly gray fire exit is now a nice, trippy, half-toned stencil mural!

Tags: Creations, stencil
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ONE DAY ONLY

Poster Exhibit - Book Release Party - Artist Panel

CELEBRATE PEOPLE’S HISTORY: the Poster Book of Resistance and Revolution

Edited by Josh MacPhee

Foreword by Rebecca Solnit

Published by the Feminist Press

7pm - Saturday Nov. 20

The Center for Political Education

522 Valencia St, SF

www.politicaleducation.org

Since 1998, Celebrate People’s History posters have documented feminist organizers, indigenous uprisings, civil rights leaders, union struggles, LGBT activism and much more. Bay Area history stands out with posters on Los Siete de la Raza, the 1969 Alcatraz occupation, the International Hotel and the 1966 transgender riot at Compton’s Cafeteria. The Feminist Press has just released over 100 posters in hardback, and the book’s West Coast premiere includes a poster exhibit, book signing and artist panel.

Featured Speakers:

Lincoln Cushing, historian, www.docspopuli.org

Favianna Rodríguez, artist, www.favianna.com

FREE admission. Donations go to MacPhee’s partner, Dara Greenwald, who is battling cancer.

Tags: Creations, Politics, radical posters
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There is a Day of the Dead tradition in Mexico where souls who live through the day can write poems killing whomever they wish. A calaverita is limerick-styled writing that usually makes fun of the subject by using their quirks to do them in. I wrote a long poem that I didn’t read at a Day of the Dead Gathering in the Mission District, so am posting it here to share. While people were writing their pieces at the party, hostess Adrianna wanted someone to kill Critical Mass. An idea sprung up which I jotted down. I read that one and then had to repeat it with a beat box dropping beats. So I rapped it the second time, trying hard not to laugh during the performance.

A pile of bikes roll down the street
Having the best time ever
The riders in front fail to see the bait
Some car drivers lead them to the bridge - too drunk the bikes spill over

And here is one where a huge Giant takes revenge upon a group of Texan Kings:

all hail the baseball kings
presiding from texas way
proceeding with banners and pennants asway
expecting to forever reign

invading the City with their weapons drawn
hoping to conquer their frey
their bats seeking to find easy prey
their balls hoping to go long

but the monarchs from the Lone Star state
met a terrible and mighty foe
and quickly their fate was neatly sewn
and their eyes came wide awake

for a ferocious bearded thonged beast
with long hair and snapping glove
soon grabbed those Texans from above
and had a mighty feast

five courses this Giant did gladly eat
with only one spell of woe
four entrees, three where the enemy did go
to make the meal complete

then sitting on a pile of bones
and bats and balls and gloves
the Giant for the City did finger shove
into the crowns that shone

and with a mighty roar he yelled
“Fool kings your kingdom’s is done!”
And took the crowns one by one
and tossed them so they sailed

The Giants shall rule from their foggy realms!
Their people will all agree
the Texans made a great entree
and with a burp, we are the helm

Tags: Creations
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When Josh MacPhee sent a call for art e-mail out about four years ago, he wanted a fresh pile of posters to put in his book project for “Celebrate People’s History” (just released from the Feminist Press). While Josh and I collaborated and crossed over on our stencil projects, he was always making, printing, selling, and giving away CPH posters. Josh always talked about how this project was a labor of love as well as a way to “teach” history that tended to fall through the cracks. Sometimes the posters ended up on public walls. Other times, they would end up framed on private walls. But they always educated and entertained.

With this in mind, I reached out to long-time friend and collaborator Mark Cort with an idea of sharing some of South Carolina’s lost People’s History. Being our home state, the obvious choice was a poorly documented event known as the Stono Rebellion. I found one slim history book that had all the contemporary accounts and I found very little valuable sources online, but nonetheless I wrote a paragraph of text and then had Mark draw a simple illustration for the poster.

The mock-up of the CPH Stono Rebellion poster. Text and stencil by Russell Howze; artwork by Mark Cort; edited by Josh MacPhee

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Tags: Creations, Politics
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